Authorities are asking for the public’s help in finding the person responsible for setting a fire at Neil’s Lounge in Indio.
The fire at the business, 80-956 Highway 111, was reported at 5:29 a.m. on April 5, 2009.
Cal Fire investigators determined the two-alarm blaze, which caused $100,000 in damage to the lounge, was arson.
http://liarcatchers.com/arson_investigation.html
They checked a nearby surveillance camera and found that the suspected arsonist had been caught on video.
Authorities released the video on Thursday in the hopes that someone in the public may recognize the man and identify him or her.
It was the second time the video has been released.
It was first publicized in 2010.
It shows a man with a dark-hooded sweatshirt spraying the west side of the building with an accelerant. He then throws what appears to be a Molotov cocktail — a glass bottle filled with a combustible liquid and a lighted wick — at the building, causing it to ignite into flames.
The man walks with a distinct limp, officials said.
He also may have burned hands.
“If you notice in part of the video, before he takes off running, he has fire on his hands,” a fire official said in 2010 of the suspected arsonist.
Anonymous calls are being accepted on the Riverside County Fire Department Arson Hotline at (800) 633-2836.
