Crossroads Restaurant owners seek help identifying arson suspect

TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — The owners of the Crossroads Restaurant are hoping the community can help identify a suspect caught by surveillance footage from the night the restaurant caught fire.

RELATED STORY: South Tucson community members offer support after Crossroads Restaurant fire

On Sunday, Aug.13 around 12 a.m., the restaurant caught fire after being in business since 1936. By Tuesday, Aug. 15, the South Tucson Police Department released information stating the fire is now under investigation as arson. The suspect is shown here, but detectives still have yet to identify the suspect:

James Pfalzer

RELATED STORY: Fire at Crossroads Restaurant in South Tucson

Aracely Gonzalez and her husband have owned the Crossroads Restaurant for 22 years. They’re eager to get back in business with plans to rebuild. In the back of their minds, they believe the suspect is still out there and are unsure whether this could happen again.

“It can happen again to us if we don’t apprehend this person,” said Gonzalez.

Gonzalez believes this was done intentionally because the surveillance footage shows the man had been carrying a bag.

“He was prepared to come and do this damage. I’m told that it took six minutes to take away all the hard work that we’ve been doing for so many decades,” she said.

The restaurant was operated by Gonzalez and her family. Her kids were servers and spent most of their time at the restaurant. She said it was her home away from home.

“Honestly sometimes I feel like this was my first home, and it was taken away, so it’s really hard. All my kids' memories, Kindergarten drawings, pictures, they’re in my office because I told my kids I spend more time here than at home. So it’s hard to just look at the floor and everything is in ashes,” said Gonzalez.

She said it would give her peace of mind to rebuild with a suspect in custody. Anyone with information is urged to call 88-CRIME.