By Michele McPhee
The Boston Herald
BOSTON — A sicko set a cat on fire in East Boston, and then used the burning, screeching animal as a live Molotov cocktail, chucking it at the window of a house, a crime that investigators believe could be connected to gang violence.
The live fireball was heaved at a first-floor window at 204 Princeton St. in the Eagle Hill section of the neighborhood, leaving the charred outline of the tortured animal in the screen of the two-family home.
``This kid threw something at the house. It was on fire. It was making noises,’' said construction worker Juan Martinez, who was driving by the attack. ``It was terrible.’'
Horrified neighbors outside the scene cried yesterday, looking at the burned remains of the cat. ``It’s awful, awful,’' Santiago Cruz, 43, said. ``This is not normal.’'
Investigators are exploring whether the incident could be related to the MS-13 gang, a notorious enterprise with strong roots in East Boston. Police sources said there is usually unexplained violence on the 13th of every month committed at the hands of young punks associated with the gang.
``We don’t have any strong leads, but it is the 13th,’' said one investigator. ``We are looking at that as a possible angle.’'
Thehome owner was uncooperative with police yesterday, telling detectives that he did not know the names of his first-floor tenants, according to a BPD report.
``The owner stated he came out of his house due to the noise and commotion made by the fire department and observed that it was a burned cat at the side of his house,’' the BPD report said. ``He didn’t know the name or the number of his tenant, and was not able to provide any information about the person living on the first floor.’'
Those tenants were not home when the burning cat was hurled at their window, breaking it and burning the screen.
The city’s Department of Public Works removed the cat yesterday.
Copyright 2007 Boston Herald Inc.