HIALEAH, Fla. – Police have arrested a second suspect after he and an accomplice were accused of setting a Hialeah barbershop on fire last month, authorities confirmed Wednesday.
Alberto Lazaro Gonzalez, 55, who Hialeah police listed as homeless in his arrest report, is facing charges of burglary, first-degree arson and throwing a destructive device.
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Miguel Reyes Jr., of Hialeah, who was arrested on March 22, is also facing those same charges.
According to the report, Gonzalez and Reyes were captured on surveillance video approaching the barbershop at 60 W. 49th St. early that morning, shattering the front glass windows with a pipe wrench, and throwing two ignited objects, with what police believed to be mason jars, into the business.
Hialeah firefighters responded to the scene and extinguished the flames.
According to the arrest report, the building sustained more than $100,000 in damages.
Police said the owner of the barbershop immediately recognized Reyes as a former employee and was familiar with Gonzalez, having hired him for handyman tasks at the business.
The report states that video surveillance captured Reyes saying the name “Albert” in Spanish during the incident.
Police said they detained Gonzalez after spotting him on a bicycle near the intersection of East Eighth Avenue and East 65th Street in Hialeah.
A motive for the arson was not stated in the arrest report.
“Arson is a serious and malicious crime that we will not tolerate in Florida. As someone who spent my life in the restaurant industry, I understand how hard it is to build, maintain, and protect a small business, and when Florida small business owners’ livelihoods are in destroyed by thugs, I want to do everything I can as Florida’s CFO and State Fire Marshal to hold those criminals accountable,” Florida Chief Financial Officer and State Fire Marshal Jimmy Patronis said in a news release last week. “Huge thanks to the firefighters with the Hialeah Fire Department and to my Detectives with the Bureau of Fire, Arson, and Explosives Investigations for all your hard work and effort in keeping our state and our communities safe.”
As of Wednesday, Reyes and Gonzalez were both being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, where their bond has not been determined.
If convicted, both suspects face up to 30 years in prison.