What’s Up with the Burned Car in Front of the Moss Street Post Office?

On Monday, this writer went to the main post office on Moss Street to check his mail and to drop a bill in the mail. When he turned into the parking lot, he noticed something odd in the parking lot.

Or, at least at first glance, it appeared to be in the parking lot.

A group of people were investigating a crashed, burned out car located on the lawn between the post office parking lot and Moss Street. The crowd was trying to figure out what had happened. Did the car explode after a crash? Did someone jump the parking lot's curb and set fire to the vehicle? What happened to the person(s) who were inside the car?

"Did you call the police?" this writer asked one of the men looking over the wreckage. "No," he responded. "We should call the news."

"I am the news," this writer replied before dialing the Lafayette Police Department.

Sergeant Robin Green says post office officials called the police department because they wanted the gold-colored Pontiac removed from their property. Sgt. Green says officers have not been able to find the vehicle's owner. She also says what they learn from the owner will dictate if police will investigate this case further.

According to Lafayette Fire Department spokesman Alton Trahan, the fire was caused by an engine compartment fire. Trahan says the driver drove the car into the grass and away from the building.

As of Tuesday morning, the charred Pontiac is still there, sitting about 100 feet from the front door of the post office.

In fact, one of our listeners saw the car this morning and contacted us about it.

"I asked, 'How the hell did that car get there?'" the listener says he asked a police officer he saw at the post office. "He said, 'I dunno, but it's burned to a crisp.'"

Trahan says he also saw the car in front of the post office this morning.

"I'm not sure why it wasn't towed away on Friday," Trahan tells us. "We need to get that eyesore towed."