Updated: Vehicle explosion at Everett police precinct investigated as arson

Published 9:44 am Wednesday, May 6, 2026

EVERETT — Police are investigating a vehicle fire and explosion outside an Everett police precinct on Tuesday night as an arson.

Around 9:15 p.m. Tuesday, officers said a white van exploded in flames shortly after its driver stopped and exited the vehicle in the parking lot of the Everett Police Department’s South Precinct on Everett Mall Way, according to a press release.

Officers arrested the driver, a 35-year-old Everett man, who immediately surrendered to police after the explosion, according to court documents. The man was booked into the Snohomish County Jail on suspicion of first-degree arson.

The Ford Transit van was registered to the suspect, who allegedy admitted to intentionally setting the vehicle on fire, court documents said.

The man had a lighter on him at the time of his arrest and smelled of fuel, officers said. Investigators found several empty plastic bottles inside the van, documents said.

Through an interpreter, the suspect allegedly told police that someone he described as a “specialist who placed a chip” told him to go to the police station to set his vehicle on fire, court documents said. He told officers he had no plans of setting the fire anywhere else besides the police station.

Everett police said the explosion is believed to have resulted from fire over-pressuring the vehicle’s seals, causing them to rupture. The suspect’s motive is currently unknown, police said.

An investigation is ongoing, and Everett police ask anyone who may have information on the fire to call the department’s tip line at 425-257-8450.

Ian Davis-Leonard: 425-339-3097; ian.davis-leonard@heraldnet.com