Authorities are investigating an alleged arson attack on the Madison, N.J., home of a Bayer (BAYRY) executive this week, Yahoo Finance has exclusively learned.
The alleged attack took place on March 4 at 7:30 a.m. ET but was put out quickly, according to authorities.
The investigation into the incident is ongoing, and it is unclear what the motive was behind the attack. The home was purchased for $2.25 million in 2022.
“A fire was reported at an occupied residence on East Lane in Madison,” the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement to Yahoo Finance. “The fire was quickly extinguished by the Madison Fire Department. The structure sustained no significant damage and there were no reported injuries.”
The fire was described by multiple sources as minimal and only affecting the exterior of the house. Evidence of the fire was not visible at the front of the property.
Video cameras from neighbors’ homes captured a potential suspect, but authorities declined to confirm whether they identified a suspect or describe the evidence that led to the incident becoming an arson investigation.
The joint investigation includes the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office Arson/Environmental Crimes Unit, Madison Police, Morris County Sheriff’s Office CSI Unit, New Jersey State Fire Marshals Office K-9 Unit, NJ Transit Police, MTA Police Department, and the New York Police Department.
It is unusual for a prosecutor’s office and multiple other agencies to be involved in the investigation of a house fire.
In a statement to Yahoo Finance, Bayer confirmed the incident and the ongoing investigation.
“An incident occurred at the private home of one of Bayer’s US executives,” the statement said. “The family is safe and unharmed. The safety and security of our employees are of utmost importance to Bayer. The incident is under active investigation. The company is cooperating fully with the investigation. We appreciate the quick response of local law enforcement.”
The incident comes during a heightened security environment for the healthcare industry after the tragic, fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson late last year.
That shooting rocked the healthcare industry, prompting peers like CVS (CVS) to remove the headshots of executives from their websites.
Security services companies noted after Thompson’s murder that the attack on an executive was unusual, though attacks in hospitals and on clinical professionals have risen in recent years.
Bayer has been embroiled in a major lawsuit involving an allegedly cancer-causing weed killer since its $63 billion acquisition of crop science company Monsanto in 2018. According to Reuters, the company this week told lawmakers it could stop selling Roundup in the US without further legal protections.
