Police in San Jose are looking for an arsonist after a popular business in San Pedro Square was lit on fire and vandalized.
The owner of Sushi Confidential says community members have come forward with tips, videos and a whole lot of support.
The fire, which firefighters are calling arson, started after midnight on Tuesday.
“He grabbed here and pulled himself over and that’s when we see the video of him walking onto the patio,” said owner Randy Musterer.
He said the suspect in surveillance footage caused the fire and then vandalized his restaurant.
Video shows the person go behind the DJ stage, slip out, and then flames take over.
Local
“Half the stage got burned pretty bad, we had kinda nice decorative stuff that was covering here, that melted away,” said Musterer.
A security guard from across the way heard the commotion and quickly called 911.
Get a weekly recap of the latest San Francisco Bay Area housing news. Sign up for NBC Bay Area’s Housing Deconstructed newsletter.
“They pretty much saved our place,” said the owner.
But the suspect didn’t stop there. In other surveillance footage, he is seen grabbing a few wine bottles and breaking a glass door to escape into the restaurant as the fire grows, then breaking another glass door.
After making his way through the business, the suspect got out through the front doors. They are locked from the top and bottom so he had to break his way through with a fire extinguisher like he did with the other three doors.
Musterer said that all he took was a fire extinguisher and a lighter, but he left behind a fanny pack and a key piece of evidence.
“We found his hat right over here and it was laying there so they took his hat for evidence because they might be able to take DNA from it,” said Musterer.
After sharing the incident on social media, Musterer said messages started pouring in and he learned the suspect had been kicked out of bars and made contact with police earlier that day.
Neither police or fire were able to confirm that.
“It’s moving how many people have reached out to us, sympathetic for us a lot of them had been sharing they had gone through it as well and they don’t even post it on social media anymore,” said Musterer.
He said he and other businesses have been meeting with the mayor to address the homeless and break ins.
He believes the city’s been taking a proactive approach and hopes to see changes soon.
