Suspected Arson and Crash at London Police Station ‘Not Terror-Related’

Police officers secure the cordon around Edmonton Green police station, following an incident involving a car colliding with the front doors of the building in the Edmonton area of London on Nov. 11, 2020. Leon Neal/Getty Images

An incident involving a man crashing a car into a London police station entrance then starting a fire outside is not being treated as terror-related.

A 45-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of arson and “a number of other offenses,” the Metropolitan Police said on Thursday morning.

Footage posted to social media shows a car wedged in the crumpled entrance to the station, as a man walks out in front of the evening traffic, pours what appears to be petrol onto the road from a can, and sets it on fire.

The incident occurred just before 7 p.m. on Nov. 10 at Edmonton police station in north London.

Police believe that man was the driver of the vehicle.

Met Police Commander Ade Adelekan said in a statement: “This appears to have been an isolated incident and does not seem to be terror-related. I am satisfied that there is no wider risk to the community.”

Police officers secure the cordon around Edmonton Green police station, following an incident involving a car colliding with the front doors of the building in the Edmonton area of London on Nov. 11, 2020. Leon Neal/Getty Images

“Local officers will continue to carry out enquiries, but at this stage we are not looking for anybody else,” Adelekan added.

“I also acknowledge the brave actions of local officers who confronted and arrested the suspect in a dangerous and challenging situation.”

In the footage, as a scooter pulls out of the way, a man in a grey hoodie pours petrol onto the tarmac at the bus stop, squats down, and sets it on fire as traffic on the other side crawls past, just feet away.

As the flames erupt, a police car pulls up.

Seconds later, a member of the public appears to grapple him and throw him to the ground, just before two police officers pin him down.

“I would like to thank the public for their response to the incident and would urge anyone with information about what happened to contact police,” Adelekan said.

In an apparent reference to establishing that the car posed no bomb threat, police said that the vehicle was examined by “specialist officers at the scene.”

According to the BBC, a woman whose husband saw the crash said that the driver tried to get into the station, but was thwarted by a second barrier.

“He was insisting on trying to get inside, but the glass door wouldn’t break any more, so he couldn’t get any closer,” she said. “Then he casually got out of the car with a tank of petrol. He poured it down from the car into the middle of the road and then he just set it on fire.”