PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A longtime restaurant in West Philadelphia is cleaning up after someone set fire to it overnight.
Across from the two locust trees Saad Alrayes planted when he opened his business 30 years ago, someone lit a small container of gasoline on fire and threw it against his restaurant, Saad’s Halal Restaurant in Spruce Hill.
“We look into the cameras — it’s not a hate crime,” he said. “It’s the homeless guy who stay outside. We called the cops on him last week for bothering the customers. He asked for help and if they don’t help him, they spit on him.
“As soon as the cops left, he was furious, mad, and he came and he attacked me, but it wasn’t hard,” he said. “And then yesterday morning, my neighbors next door saw him flipping up the flower pots.”
The fire was set around 3:30 a.m. Wednesday on the corner of 45th and Walnut streets. The fire marshal and police ruled it an arson.
“He had a little bottle of gasoline, left it outside here, he lit it up and ran away,” Alrayes said.
The damage is minor — a foyer needs to be replaced. As repairs are being made, the restaurant is staying open.
“Things happen,” he said, but “we’re open, thank God.”
Police are investigating further.
