PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Federal officials on Tuesday announced charges against a Fairhill pizza shop owner who they say helped set the June 18 fire that resulted in the collapse of his property, which killed a Philadelphia firefighter and wounded several other people. This could become a death penalty case because it resulted in the death of a firefighter.
Al-Ashraf Khalil has been indicted on arson-related charges. Authorities say Khalil, along with another man, is seen on surveillance video leaving a dumpster area near Star Pizza, the business he owned at Third Street and W. Indiana Avenue, just minutes before smoke is seen coming from inside the restaurant.
"Voluminous video surveillance recovered by investigators show two suspects, minutes before the fire began, in the early-morning hours of June 18, walk behind the dumpster and enter the property at 300 W. Indiana Avenue," said Nelson Thayer Jr., first assistant for the U.S. Attorney.
Philadelphia Fire Lt. Sean Williamson, 51, was killed in the line of duty when the building collapsed on him and five others after firefighters had extinguished the fire. A 27-year veteran of the Philadelphia Fire Department, he was laid to rest on Monday.
Thayer said it was Khalil's distinctive clothing that tied him to the incident: "Sweatpants, with three stripes, that are tight below the knee, and what appear to be slides, slipper slides. He was wearing similar pants when he arrived at the scene of the collapse in the early morning hours of June 18."
Thayer said Khalil wore the same outfit later when investigators questioned him.
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He says they were able to track Khalil's movements on surveillance video as he walked walking from the pizza shop at the time of the fire, to B Street between Allegheny Avenue and Stella Street, where a driver picked him up.
However, Thayer said, Khalil told investigators a completely different story. In their first interview with him, Khalil said he had been working at his other business, La Casa Pizza, near Erie Avenue and Luzerne Street in Juniata, that evening, and he was at home on his couch when he got a phone call about the fire before driving to the scene.
"Khalil allegedly ... provided false information to the investigators about where he was when he learned of the fire," Thayer said.
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In a follow-up interview, they say, Khalil told them he was not planning to travel any time soon. However, they say, he immediately booked a one-way ticket to Jordan, through Dubai — but Khalil was denied entry overseas and had to return. He was picked up at JFK Airport in New York City and placed into federal custody.
U.S. marshals say, when they arrested Khalil, they used handcuffs etched with Williamson’s initials and badge number. During a Tuesday press conference at the Philadelphia field office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, Fire Commissioner Adam Thiel said Williamson, who died a lieutenant, will be posthumously promoted to the rank of captain at the the Fire Department's next promotion ceremony.
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Because this is an arson-related death of a firefighter, Khalil could face the death penalty.
"The decision on whether or not to seek the death penalty in a case in the federal system is one of the gravest decisions that a U.S. attorney can be called upon to make," Thayer said. "It is a lengthy, rigorous process in which there is mandatory consultation."
Officials would not release the exact cause of the fire other than to say it was intentionally set, and they did not disclose a motive. They have also not named or charged the second suspect. They said only that they are continuing to investigate.