I played at the Spud last night and heard the whole weird story. Whoever this criminal mastermind was, he gained entry by pushing in a window-style air conditioner that was built into the wall of the small back office. He then stole a signed guitar and a couple computers. Once in there he likely noticed the club's video security system and realized his actions had all been recorded. It may have been at that point that he came up with the idea to torch the place, maybe thinking he could cover his tracks? Nobody knows. So he poured some gasoline in the room and lit it on fire.
The video security system saves to the cloud so they have a recording of the crime. He missed a cabinet with quite a bit of cash in it - now black from the fire and soaked from the firehoses. And furthermore, they caught the guy later that morning in possession of the stolen property.
Motive appears to have been robbery, not sure if arson was part of his initial plan. And nobody knows if he knew the venue and specifically targeted the office or was just looking for something to steal and sell. But the club is up and running with the exception of the "patio seating" in back which normally gets video and audio fed through the now destroyed gear in that office. Insurance should get everything back to normal in time.
An unfortunate incident but it certainly could have been much worse. Police spotted the smoke within minutes of it starting and firefighters were there moments later. They broke through the front door, dragged a hose through the club and doused the office within minutes. A few of the firefighters told Justin they were music fans and had been to the club recently. Small world.
Jimmy J
