Las Vegas Man Sentenced to 5 Years in Federal Prison for Rifle and Molotov Cocktail Attack on Tesla Collision Center

LAS VEGAS, NV — A Las Vegas resident who opened fire on surveillance cameras and firebombed parked vehicles with improvised incendiary weapons outside a southwest valley Tesla facility was sentenced in federal court to five years behind bars.

The sentence was handed down by U.S. District Judge Jennifer A. Dorsey inside the Lloyd D. George U.S. Courthouse in downtown Las Vegas.

Paul Hyon Kim, 37, of Las Vegas, was ordered to serve 60 months (five years) in federal prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, after previously pleading guilty to four federal felony counts tied to the pre-dawn attack at the Tesla Collision Center Las Vegas located along the 6000 block of West Badura Avenue.

The sentencing concludes a joint federal terrorism and arson investigation led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD), with specialized tactical forensics provided by the Clark County Fire Department Arson Task Force.

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|       TESLA COLLISION CENTER ARSON SENTENCING DOSSIER  |
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|  - Jurisdiction: U.S. District Court, District of NV   |
|    Lloyd D. George Federal Courthouse (Las Vegas, NV)  |
|  - Presiding Judge: U.S. District Judge Jennifer Dorsey|
|  - Defendant: Paul Hyon Kim, 37 (Las Vegas, NV)        |
|  - Incident Location: Tesla Collision Center Las Vegas |
|    6000 Block of West Badura Avenue (Southwest Basin)  |
|  - Date of Crime: March 18, 2025 | Pre-Dawn Hours      |
|  - Sentence Imposed: 60 Months (5 Years) Federal Prison|
|    Followed by 3 Years of Supervised Release           |
|  - Federal Charges (Guilty Plea Entered):              |
|      • 2 Counts: Arson of Property in Interstate Comm. |
|      • 1 Count: Attempted Arson in Interstate Commerce |
|      • 1 Count: Possession of an Unregistered Firearm  |
|        (Classified Destructive Device / Incendiary)    |
|  - Hardware Employed in Attack:                        |
|      • .300 Blackout AR-Platform Semiautomatic Rifle   |
|      • 3 Improvised Glass Molotov Cocktails (2 Deton.) |
|      • Black Spray Paint ("RESIST" on Entrance Doors)  |
|  - Physical Toll: 5 Customer Electric Vehicles Destroyed|
|  - Prosecuting Authority: Assistant U.S. Attorneys     |
|    Jake Operskalski and Dan Cowhig (USAO Nevada)       |
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Pre-Dawn Assault on Commercial Electric Vehicle Hub

According to federal indictments and admissions entered during Kim’s plea colloquy, the defendant arrived outside the southwest valley repair facility during the early morning hours of March 18, 2025, armed with an AR-platform semiautomatic rifle chambered in .300 Blackout and three glass bottle Molotov cocktails.

Kim approached the customer entrance, using the rifle to shoot out two elevated exterior security cameras to obscure his movements.

He then walked to the front double glass doors and spray-painted the word “RESIST” in large capital letters.

Moving into the customer staging lot, Kim fired rifle rounds directly through the windows and cabins of several Tesla vehicles awaiting maintenance before lighting and tossing three Molotov cocktails into separate cars.

Two of the devices detonated upon impact, igniting intense lithium-battery and interior fires that quickly spread to adjacent rows.

A third Molotov cocktail failed to ignite and was recovered intact by bomb technicians.

In total, five vehicles were incinerated and damaged beyond repair before Kim fled to his personal vehicle and sped away.

“The Department of Justice has been clear: anyone who participates in domestic terrorism will suffer severe legal consequences,” stated First Assistant U.S. Attorney Sigal Chattah for the District of Nevada following the sentencing hearing. “This defendant engaged in a premeditated, heavily armed attack against a commercial business in our valley, endangering firefighters, police officers, and adjacent neighborhoods.”

Judicial Ruling and Sentencing Disparity

Federal prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office pushed aggressively for a substantial 240-month (20-year) prison term, arguing that the combination of armor-piercing rifle rounds, destructive incendiaries, and ideological vandalism warranted strict deterrence.

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|             FEDERAL VS. STATE PROSECUTION TRACK        |
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|  • Government Sentence Request: 240 Months (20 Years)  |
|  • Sentence Imposed by Court: 60 Months (5 Years)      |
|  • Destructive Device Classification: Under 26 U.S.C.  |
|    § 5861(d), Molotov cocktails are strictly regulated  |
|    as unregistered firearms / destructive weapons      |
|  • State Charges Dropped: Clark County District        |
|    Attorney's Office dismissed parallel state arson    |
|    charges in April 2026 following the federal plea    |
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Judge Dorsey ultimately diverged from the government’s recommendation, taking into account Kim’s guilty plea to all four counts and absence of a violent felony record to impose the 60-month federal term.

Kim will be remanded to the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to serve his time at a designated low-to-medium security federal correctional institution, with zero eligibility for federal parole.

The Clark County District Attorney’s Office had previously dismissed parallel state charges after federal prosecutors assumed primary jurisdiction over the case.

Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Nevada Official Case Briefings (U.S. v. Paul Hyon Kim, Case No. 2:25-mj-00261-EJY), Las Vegas Sun Crime Wire, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Field Division.