Heart of Texas Crime Stoppers and local law enforcement agencies are asking for help in solving a car theft in Early which ended in a car fire on Tuesday morning.

According to Early Chief of Police David Mercer, officers responded to a vehicle fire with Early Volunteer Fire Department and the Brownwood Fire Department in a pasture behind the Allsups store at 910 Early Blvd.   According EPD Chief Mercer, upon fire and law enforcement units’ arrival the vehicle, a green Mitsubishi SUV was fully engulfed with fire.  Fire personnel extinguished the fire.  The fire is being investigated as arson and is under investigation, said Mercer.

Brownwood Fire Marshal Buddy Preston collected samples from the burnt vehicle to be sent to the lab to determine what accelerants were used.

A short time after the fire call, an individual in Brownwood was leaving work for his lunch break and discovered that his 2000 Mitsubishi SUV was missing, reported Mercer. The vehicle had been parked in front of his place of employment with the keys in the vehicle.

Mercer explained that the vehicle was believed to have been taken from Main Street in Brownwood between 8:00 a.m. and 9:40 a.m. when the first call came in reporting a reckless driver on CR 348 East of Early. The fire call came in at 10:19 a.m.  Anyone that may have seen the green Mitsubishi SUV or has knowledge of the theft and fire are asked to call the Early Police at 325-646-5322 or Brownwood Police Department at 325-646-2525 or Crime Stoppers at 800-222-tips, Text hottips & your tip information to 274637 (crimes) or go online to www.heartoftexascrimestoppers.org to report any information.