Police: Juneau man's boat vandalized with racial slur, destroyed by arsonist

Juneau police are asking for public help to find whoever is responsible for the burning of a boat targeted by an arsonist twice in two days, with a racial slur also scrawled on the craft.

A statement from the Juneau Police Department said the boat, a 21-foot fiberglass Bayliner, was destroyed around 3:45 a.m. Thursday.

According to police, the 47-year-old Juneau man who owns the boat first reported Wednesday that "an unknown person had vandalized the boat with spray paint and attempted to light it on fire," as it was parked on the 3800 block of Riverside Drive.

"The vandalism included a racial slur against the man's race," police wrote.

On Thursday morning, police and fire crews were called back to the same area by reports of explosions.

"Officers and Capital City Fire and Rescue personnel arrived within seven minutes and discovered the same boat engulfed in flames," police wrote. "The (Bayliner) was destroyed by the fire."

Staci Feger-Pellessier, a spokeswoman for the Anchorage office of the FBI, said agents were still gathering information on the case Thursday and couldn't immediately say whether it would be investigated as a hate crime.

CCFR's fire marshal, Dan Jager, said in an email Thursday that authorities were looking for any tips that could help solve the crime.

"(The fire marshal's office) and JPD are investigating this as an arson fire and hoping that anyone from the community that has information steps forward to help us out," Jager wrote.

Anyone with information about the arson or any suspects is asked to contact police at 907-586-0600 or submit a report through the Juneau Crime Line website.