Authorities in Puerto Rico are on the brink of charging a suspect in connection with an incident that saw a tourist allegedly set fire to several establishments in Cabo Rojo, the island’s largest newspaper, El Nuevo Día, reported on Tuesday. Lieutenant Miguel Rivera Sepúlveda of the Mayagüez Police Department’s explosives division revealed to the newspaper that charges could be filed as early as this week or the next.
The event, which transpired early Thursday in the small coastal town of Cabo Rojo in the island’s southwest, was captured by security cameras. The videos and images of the incident quickly went viral on social media platforms, causing outrage among Puerto Ricans both on the island and in the mainland United States.
The individual suspected of causing the fire, a woman whose identity NBC News has chosen not to disclose due to her not being formally charged or named in the ATF investigation, has reportedly left Puerto Rico and returned to the mainland, according to authorities on the island.
Expressing his frustration, Cabo Rojo Mayor Jorge Morales Wiscovitch stated, “I wish they could have arrested her yesterday. She needs to be returned immediately and face the country’s justice system. It wasn’t just businesses that were burned. There were rooms on the second floor where people were sleeping. People could have been burned and killed.”
Morales detailed that the suspect, identified as a tourist who had been causing disturbances at a local restaurant, Bar Marea, was escorted twice by police to the Airbnb property where she was lodging that night. Following the closure of the businesses and the departure of patrons, reports of a fire began to emerge later in the evening.
Security footage obtained from one of the establishments enabled investigators to pinpoint the suspect as the same individual who had been causing disruptions earlier in the night. The woman was observed leaving the scene in a white vehicle that picked her up, as per Morales.
A statement posted on Bar Marea’s Facebook page recounted the tourist’s behavior upon her arrival at the establishment, describing her as inebriated and behaving aggressively towards other guests and staff members. The post alleged that the woman returned post-closure with gasoline, doused the area, and ignited the fire that caused significant damage to multiple local businesses.
Among the affected establishments were Luichy’s Seaside Hotel, Marinera Restaurant, Artesanías Juavia, and Bar Marea Restaurant, all of which operate within the hotel’s premises. Approximately 50 individuals who were present at the time had to be evacuated, per the restaurant’s social media update.
Ángel Luis Marrero, the owner of Luichy’s Seaside Hotel, estimated that the fire had caused around $500,000 in damages and had a severe impact on the livelihoods of the hotel’s 15 employees.
The suspect’s employer, HLK Agency based in St. Louis, issued a statement on Instagram announcing the immediate suspension of the employee pending further information. The agency expressed shock at the events
