A passenger car was found ablaze early Saturday morning near the intersection of C.C. Woodson and Early Blvd. around the same time it was reported stolen, according to law enforcement officials.

According to Early Chief of Police David Mercer, the cause of the fire is unknown; however the car appeared to have been “wrecked out” in the vacant lot between C. C. Woodson Road and the construction site of the new Taco Casa in Early.

Early VFD and Early Police received the call around 4:00am Saturday morning. The vehicle was identified as a 2000 model four-door Chrysler 300, which was a total loss in the fire. Mercer stated that the vehicle had also been reported stolen to the Brownwood Police Department.

BPD Assistant Chief James Fuller confirmed the report of the car as stolen; however, he said that the theft is still under investigation.

According to BPD reports, officers were called to a residence in the 1300 block of 17th Street at the same time units were being dispatched to the call of a vehicle fire in an open field near C. C. Woodson Road. At the residence, the owner and a subject were interviewed about the theft of the vehicle. “Both subjects were intoxicated and the driver/owner of the vehicle claimed it was his normal practice to leave the vehicle unlocked with the keys in it,” states the report. Both subjects claimed to have left the vehicle on 17th Street earlier in the evening, according to the report.

“At the location of the vehicle fire, officers located a driver’s license lying on the ground near the vehicle,” stated the BPD report which went on to state that license was later determined to belong to a subject who was identified as a passenger in the vehicle earlier in the evening.

Pictured above is the burning vehicle, a 2000 Chrysler 300.