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N.J. Family Shaken After Molotov Cocktail Blows Up Car In Driveway

OLD BRIDGE, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- There was a close call for a New Jersey family after somebody set fire to their property early Thursday morning.

The flames erupted in the driveway of an Old Bridge home overnight. Anthony Calco said he woke up to quite a scene at around 1 a.m.

Molotov cocktail attack
Police are looking for a suspect wanted for throwing a Molotov cocktail at a family's car in Old Bridge, New Jersey. (Photo: CBSN New York)

"My son looked out the window, saw smoke, alerted the family. We came out and the car was on fire," Calco told CBSN New York's Tara Jakeway on Friday.

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Calco ran out to the driveway and tried to put out the flames, inhaling smoke and slicing his arm in the process. His wife and two sons were home at the time, but all made it out unharmed yet shaken.

"The fire department came and put it out and it was a mess. It left my family in shambles. They're very scared and they're upset," Calco said.

"I was on my way home from my friends' and I got a call from my mother hysterically crying," said son Sal Calco. "And I just don't understand why someone would do this to us."

Sal stayed out late Wednesday watching basketball with buddies. Miles from his house he got that call, minutes later he pulled up to a ball of fire in his driveway.

While the family is unsure of who would do such a thing, Old Bridge Police said they have a lead thanks to a Ring video from neighbors across Carter Drive. It captured the moment a shadowy figure appears to throw a Molotov cocktail at the Calcos' Chevy Malibu and then take off as the car explodes.

"We want justice. We want to find this person," Anthony Calco said.

The police are still encouraging anyone who saw anything to speak up.

The driveway is a reminder of the scary incident scorched into the pavement and into the memory of Calco, who said he plans to install cameras in his home.

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