Man gets 5-year sentence for tossing Molotov cocktails

SAN DIEGO

A Spring Valley man who authorities say threw two Molotov cocktails into a National City home while three children were alone inWitholt side was sentenced Monday to five years in prison.

Sylvester Andrews Jr., 39, was sentenced in San Diego federal court for possessing and attempting to use the incendiary devices on the home.

The incident occurred in the early morning hours of May 20, 2018, when National City’s police and fire departments responded to a vehicle engulfed in flames outside a home.

Investigators determined someone had doused beach towels with a liquid — possibly gasoline — put them on the vehicle and set them on fire, according to a news release from the San Diego U.S. Attorney’s Office.

They also discovered a bedroom window was broken and saw that someone had tossed two Molotov cocktails containing gasoline into the home. Neither device fully ignited.

An investigation led by agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives found that Andrews had a dispute with a parent of the juvenile victims.

Surveillance cameras, text messages and DNA evidence linked him to the incident, authorities said.

“This defendant’s actions put three children at great risk because of a grown-up grudge, and the price for that is prison,” said U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman. “This is a fitting sentence for an offender who used an explosive device to settle a score.”