SAN ANTONIO — A San Antonio family said their restaurant was torched back-to-back in two days. Now, they want to catch the alleged arsonist.
They said whoever did it left gas cans behind. PAPIS Mexican Restaurant is located on East Houston Street just down the road from the AT&T Center. The family said the first incident happened on Sunday and the following early Tuesday morning.
They said both fires happened at the back of the building. Much of the building is untouched, most of it is made of concrete which is why they said the damage isn’t much worse.
Laura Rodriguez said it has always been her mother’s dream to have her own place. She said the family doesn’t understand who would want to set it on fire. Rodriguez described to KENS 5 the first fire.
“It didn’t hurt anything inside,” she said. “Thank God. Everything pretty much is concrete. This is the side where they can start it on fire.”
Rodriguez said once fire crews put it out, they came across gas cans they believe were used.
“They broke the siding and put the gas tanks inside the siding to start the fire,” she said.
The family fixed that one side of the building, but it would happen again. Early Tuesday morning, Rodriguez got an alert from a security monitoring system. She said she looked at the cameras and saw the building on fire. Her mother would have been inside at the time but didn’t get to work early that morning.
“We feel a little said most of all,” she said.
She said the family is fearful it could happen again.
Everybody works hard for their stuff,” Rodriguez said. It took us a long time to get where we are at.”
The family has installed at least ten more cameras. They've also added more lighting around the place, specifically in the back. They plan to open back up on Wednesday, but only for drive-thru. They ask anyone with information to come forward.