Five armed men overpowered a security guard at a car dealership and set fire to 37 patrol cars awaiting delivery to the municipal police department in the Mexican border city of Tijuana.
The assailants rendered eight of the vehicles unusable, setting fire to them, smashing the windows and damaging the bodies.
The attack occurred Monday night at a dealership in the eastern section of Tijuana, which is located near San Diego, California.
The vehicles already sported official decals and were being prepared for delivery to the municipal police department.
Officers saw the fire and called the fire department, which managed to put out the blaze, but not before the vehicles were damaged.
The security guard told police he heard the gunmen smashing the windows and setting fire to the patrol cars.
The vehicles were part of a larger fleet that had not yet been delivered because police lights and sirens had not been installed.
This border city is home to the Tijuana drug cartel, a criminal organization founded by the Arellano Felix brothers.