In relation to an investigation into a tourist in Puerto Rico who is suspected of setting shops on fire last week, federal investigators executed a search warrant in St. Louis on Tuesday.
Spokesman Lisa Storey told NBC News that while the St. Louis Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is assisting law enforcement in the U.S. territory with an arson investigation, no arrests have been made.
Puerto Rico’s biggest newspaper, El Nuevo D’A, stated Tuesday that authorities are almost ready to charge a suspect in the incident, where surveillance cameras captured a visitor who is thought to have started the fire. Lt. Miguel Rivera Seplveda of the explosives division of the Mayag ez Police Department told the newspaper that charges could be filed as early as this week or next week.
Social media users have taken to sharing videos and images of the incident, which has angered Puerto Ricans both on the island and in the US mainland.
The tragedy happened early on Thursday in the southwest region of the island, in the little seaside town of Cabo Rojo. Authorities on the island said the lady, who NBC News is not naming because she has not been charged or named in the ATF investigation, departed Puerto Rico and returned to the mainland.
“I wish they could have arrested her yesterday,” said Jorge Morales Wiscovitch, the mayor of Cabo Rojo. She must be brought back right away and dealt with by the nation’s legal system. Businesses weren’t the only things that burnt. Individuals were sleeping in rooms on the second floor. People might have been killed or burned.
According to Morales, the suspect is a tourist who was bothering people while at the restaurant, one of the establishments. She was twice escorted by police to her Airbnb accommodation in the vicinity. Reports of a fire started to surface later that evening, after the businesses had closed and everyone had gone home.
According to Morales, authorities were able to identify the suspect as the tourist who had been bothering individuals earlier in the evening thanks to security footage from one of the establishments. According to Morales, she was later picked up and driven away in a white sedan.
The foreigner arrived late at night, appeared intoxicated, and started insulting other customers, even attacking a woman and a waitress, according to a Facebook post made by the restaurant Bar Marea on Thursday. A request for comment from Bar Marea was not immediately answered.
According to the post, the woman returned with gasoline after the establishments had closed, spread it over the neighborhood, and set it on fire.
Businesses that rent space in the hotel’s structure, such as Luichy’s Seaside Hotel, Marinera Restaurant, Artesan as Juavia, and Bar Marea Restaurant, are among those impacted.
According to the restaurant’s post, about fifty of the patrons were evacuated.
In an interview with El Nuevo D on Sunday, hotel owner Ngel Luis Marrero stated that the fire had impacted the livelihoods of 15 employees and caused damage estimated at $500,000.
In an Instagram statement, the suspect’s company, the St. Louis-based HLK Agency, stated that it immediately suspended the worker while it awaited more information.
The news of what had happened in Puerto Rico startled us. Law enforcement in Missouri and Puerto Rico have not yet gotten in touch with us, but if they do, we are willing to assist with their investigation, the statement stated.
We are taking the appropriate actions, a Cabo Rojo police spokesperson told NBC News. A thorough investigation is in progress. Since I would be tainting the inquiry, I am unable to provide any additional details.
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