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Published on 11/24/1997 All articles from this issue

Arson cited in fire at Los Altos video store

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By Linda Taaffe

Town Crier Staff Writers

and Joanne Griffith Domingue

Fire erupted at the Video Man on 265 State St. late Wednesday night after someone placed a burning item through the video return slot in the building's front door.

Sgt. Mark Macaulay from the Los Altos Police Department said a Baskin-Robbins employee from across the street "heard the detector and saw smoke coming from the store.

"The person broke out the window and used an extinguisher to put out the flames."

The fire department arrived at 9:47 p.m., four minutes after a call had been received, but most of the fire had been put out, said Bill Hardwicke, chief of investigation for the Santa Clara County Fire Department.

The fire caused approximately $2,500 worth of damage, Hardwicke said.

He said the person from across the street "really saved a lot of damage.

"The plastic video cases burn fast. Once you get them going, they generate a lot of heat, and you're off to the races," he said.

Hardwicke declined to state the item that started the fire.

"(The fire) was arson, intentionally done," he said.

Store manager Bryan Henderson said he believes the fire was started by a former employee who has been "terrorizing" him for the past month.

"It's been a real nightmare," Henderson said. "Besides shoplifting, this is the first time any real crime has happened since the store opened nine years ago."

Henderson said this was the sixth crime-related incident in the past month. He said the employee was arrested Nov. 17 after someone saw him leaving the store from a smashed front window at around 3 a.m. Macaulay said the two juveniles arrested in the Nov. 17 incident were booked and released.

Macaulay said "At this point, we don't have enough information to indicate the two (incidences) are connected."

Both the Los Altos police and the Santa Clara County Fire departments are investigating.

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