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A customer went to extreme measures after having an argument with an employee at El Forastero Mexican Food in Stockton, California.
The restaurant went up in flames because police say the suspect wanted a soda but didn't want to pay for it, reports CBS13.
“There’s ash all over. I mean you can see on the wall. You see it right there,” Sonia Dominguez, the owner of El Forastero told CBS13. "
The damage is extensive and her employees are now out of work.
“I have a lot of families that now won’t get their pay,” she said.
Dominguez says the suspect "...ordered a drink and he ordered a water."
When the employee taking his order didn't give the man a free soda, he used a lighter to set the fire and rode away on his bicycle.
“This suspect’s actions were very bold, very brazen,” Stockton police spokesperson Joe Silva told CBS13. “There was no reason for him to light that building on fire.”
The suspect managed to get away and the police need the public's help finding him.
“He may be responsible for other similar incidents in that area, in that neighborhood, and we don’t want him to do it again,” said Silva.
Dominguez and her family are trying to clean up the mess.
“Hopefully, we’ll be able to open soon. Although they tell me it’s not going to be that easy,” Dominguez said.
El Forastero remained open throughout the COVID-19 pandemic so Dominguez said if they can get through last year, they can get through anything.
CBS13 reports that employees were able to evacuate the building before the fire got any worse.