Man who burned to death outside Daytona Beach police station threatened FBI building

A Lake City man who previously threatened to blow up the police department and a federal building died after the van he was in went up in flames in the parking lot of the Daytona Beach Police Department, officials said.

The gray 2003 Ford van sat in the parking lot at 129 Valor Blvd. for about two minutes before catching fire at about 2:20 a.m. early Wednesday, Jennifer Whittet, deputy police chief, said.

The 55-year-old man, engulfed in flames, ran from the vehicle parked near the entrance to the lobby of headquarters and collapsed about five feet from it, police said. The man succumbed to his injuries at the scene.

"The whole vehicle went up very quickly," Whittet said. "We believe this was self-initiated by the person in the vehicle."

Police aren't releasing the man's identity until notification of next of kin, Messod Bendayan, police spokesman, said. 

Officers inside the building heard an explosion, which officials believe was a tire popping, and attempted to put out the blaze before firefighters arrived, Whittet said.

The deputy chief said the state fire marshal believes the fire started inside the vehicle and isn't connected to any sort of mechanical issue.

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The man made the threat to blow up police headquarters in 2020, Whittet said. In 2019 he was Baker Acted three times.

The 55-year-old also had some sort of "run-in" with neighbors before that, the deputy chief said.

"I don't know if he didn't get the help he was looking for or what he wanted from police, but at that time he threatened to blow up the FBI building in Jacksonville," Whittet said.

Police didn't find any explosives or weapons on scene, and a check of the perimeter by the bomb squad also didn't yield anything, Whittet said.