Four young men will appear in Oslo District Court in two weeks, accused of having tried to set fire to five cars in Oslo in 2020. They succeeded in setting fire to two cars, which were completely burnt out.

One of the men is also charged with insurance fraud.

The four men aged 21 to 24, all of non-Western origin, are charged with serious damage, which carries a penalty of six years in prison.

According to the indictment, the cars were set on fire or attempted to be set on fire at around 4 o’clock on the night of 30 March 2020. In Hovseterveien, they are said to have broken windows on and poured petrol “in, on and around five passenger cars that were lined up”.

They only succeeded in setting fire to two of the cars, the other three were damaged by smashing windows and being drenched in petrol.

Many witnesses reported that they had seen a car drive away from the scene at high speed. The four were arrested at Storo an hour later, NTB reported a few hours later.

We were looking for a car, a station wagon with a ski box on the roof. The four were believed to have driven such a car. In addition, they smelled of gasoline. A small quantity of drugs was also found near one of them, operations manager Guro Sandes in the Oslo police district told NTB on Monday morning.

The police believe the four bought a can of petrol before the incident at Hovseter.

One of the cars belonged to the mother of one of the defendants (21). The car was completely damaged. In connection with the incident, the 21-year-old has been charged with serious insurance fraud.

The Audi A3 passenger car with registration number [xx], which he owned, was completely damaged in the fire he caused, with the intention that he and/or his mother [N.N.] would be paid the insurance sum on the car. Gjensidige forsikring paid out NOK as a result of this. NOK 123,250 to [N.N.].

Serious insurance fraud carries a penalty of six years in prison.

Acting public prosecutor Daniel Sollie announces in the indictment a claim for compensation of a total of NOK 270,000 against the 21-year-old.

More than two weeks have been set aside for the trial, which starts on June 5.