Vermont Man Sets Fire To Car; Later Realizes It's The Wrong Car

I often do weird crime updates from Florida, which seems to be the World Headquarter for people who do strange,  creative lawbreaking.

Vermont man torches car to get back at somebody
he disliked. But oops, wrong car.  

But where I live in Vermont, we try to contribute to this phenomenon, especially up in the remote Northeast Kingdom part of the state.

After all, this is the part of the state where, in 2012, a mentally ill man ran over and crushed eight police cruisers in a parking lot with a tractor he was driving. 

It's the part of Vermont where last year,  a reporter for a small town newspaper didn't have to go far to get a crime story. He just looked out the window and watched his car get stolen.

Today, we introduce you to Cory Carpenter, 33, of Newport, Vermont. According to the Newport Dispatch, he was caught Saturday night after setting a Dodge Neon ablaze in Newport.

Asked by the arresting officer why he did it, according to the Dispatch, Carpenter replied, "I did it to be an asshole."

Well, no argument there.

Apparently, he wanted to set fire to a car owned by somebody with whom he was having a disagreement. The destroyed car, however, belonged to somebody else, somebody Carpenter apparently had no beef with.

Police said while in custody, he penned this note to the person whose car he torched: "I apologize for setting fire to your car. Wasn't my intention. Peace be with you. Truly sorry, Cory L. Carpenter Jr."

Well, at least he's sorry. But he's still facing charges. Which goes to prove, revenge isn't necessarily sweet.