[Baltimore Sun] Baltimore arson investigators probing Monday fire behind Papi Cuisine in Federal Hill
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Baltimore arson investigators are probing a Monday dumpster fire behind Papi Cuisine, a restaurant in Federal Hill that had its liquor license renewed last month in the face of a flurry of protests from a handful of neighbors.
A Baltimore Police spokesperson said Tuesday that police and fire units responded to the restaurant on East Wells Street at about 9:17 a.m. and extinguished the fire, which caused minor damage, without injury. The city’s Arson Task Force is investigating the fire, police said.
One of the restaurant’s owners, Alex Perez, posted surveillance footage on the business’ Instagram page, showing a person carrying a bucket and walking toward the dumpster Monday morning. The person is seen walking away shortly before the dumpster catches fire.
“Apparently, someone got the bright idea to try and blow up our restaurant,” he said, noting there were carbon dioxide tanks on both the exterior and interior of the restaurant that could have exploded and harmed people if ignited. He said the individual seen on camera used a “cocktail bomb.”
The restaurant, which serves Afro-Caribbean fare, delayed opening by three hours on Monday due to the fire.
In the Instagram video, Perez linked the fire to opposition coming from neighbors who made a failed bid last month to encourage the city’s liquor board not to renew the restaurant’s liquor license.
Baltimore’s Board of Liquor License Commissioners renewed Papi Cuisine’s liquor license last month after protests from about 10 neighbors, who submitted complaints about double-parked cars, litter, public intoxication, drag racing and fights outside the restaurant. The restaurant’s owners have denied the business and its customers being involved in those disturbances. The restaurant moved from Fells Point to Federal Hill after hearing the same complaints in the original location. Its other owner, Berry Clark, described moving to “get away” from the neighborhood disputes and noted feeling singled out as a Black restaurateur.
Last month’s liquor board protest “was not granted to those individuals, and a few days later, voilà,” Perez said in the video.
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