Owners say tattoo shop fire caused by Molotov cocktails; vow to rebuild [Las Cruces Sun-News, N.M.]

Sept. 05--LAS CRUCES -- Beads of broken safety glass littered the floor of what's left of the Irish Ink Tattoo shop Tuesday on South Main Street -- one remnant of a recent suspected arson attack that happened days earlier.

Also eye-catching were the burned patches on the walls, smoke damage throughout the whole room and a blackened ceiling.

The shop's owners, Shane "Kelly" Brown, 44, and Jamie Wallace, 32, suspect the interior of their shop was hit early last Friday morning with two Molotov cocktails --bottles filled with a flammable liquid, usually with a burning cloth stuffed into the top, that set fire upon impact.

Tuesday, a patched-up front window was evident during a tour of the shop. Shards of beer bottle remained on the shop's lone pool table, which was partially burned, and a blackened patch could be seen on the wall behind the table.

Wallace believes one fire bomb hit the pool table and sprayed onto the wall, where two costly TVs and an expensive sound system had been located. The electronics were destroyed.

"We didn't have any beer bottles inside the shop," said Wallace, a military veteran. "It's pretty obvious what they used."

Las Cruces Fire Department spokesman Steve Alexander declined to say for sure whether the suspected arson stemmed from someone lobbing Molotov cocktails. He did say that some sort of "incendiary device" was suspected, though. He confirmed the incident is being investigated as an arson.

Also, Las Cruces police are

involved in a related criminal investigation.

Prosecutor Steve Blankinship with the 3rd Judicial District Attorney's office said no arrests had happened as of Tuesday afternoon.

"Detectives are continuing to follow up on multiple leads," he said.

Brown and Wallace, who just moved into their shop and opened for business in mid-August, had received a prior threat --one that's being checked by police, Wallace said.

They rented space for the tattoo shop in the Monte Vista Center, a small strip mall near the intersection of South Main Street and Valley Drive. Brown was one of the tattoo artists, along with two other artists who worked at the location.

The fire happened around 2:15 a.m. Friday, according to police.

Wallace said Irish Ink Tattoo had an alarm system, which was triggered immediately. And firefighters responded fast. Because of that, there wasn't much actual fire damage, she said. But what wasn't damaged by fire was damaged by smoke or water, when firefighters put out the blaze, she said.

Wallace and Brown had about $20,000 in insurance coverage. But, now that most everything -- from booths, to ink to the office computer -- is totally damaged, they're worried it won't cover the full cost of rebuilding.

"We thought $20,000 would be enough, but when you start listing everything, it's nowhere near," Wallace said.

The value of damage doesn't factor in the personal items that happened to be in the shop, Wallace said. They included a rosary that commemorated Brown's grandparents; photographs of Ireland, where Brown's family hails from; and a hand-drawn image Brown had given to Wallace, his fiancee, one Christmas.

Fortunately, no one was in the shop when the incident happened.

But the incident stirred unease among employees of other businesses in the complex, which include Empereon Marketing, a Catholic Charities thrift store, an insurance business and an electrical business.

Nina Sanchez, an employee of a neighboring business, said she was concerned, upon learning the tattoo shop had been targeted. She's hopeful security is boosted in the complex, as a result of the attack.

"We never expected something like that to happen," she said.

Las Cruces police officers have been patrolling the complex regularly, since the attack.

Another of Brown and Wallace's troubles is that they --and the contracted artists who work with them -- won't be able to run their business until the insurance process wraps up and they actually repair the shop.

Wallace said they refuse to be intimidated and plan to rebuild from scratch.

"We're not scared," she said. "We're going to have a better security system. Hopefully by the time we rebuild, the police will have who they need to have. "

Continued Wallace: "If they burn it again, we'll rebuild it again."

Anyone with information about the crime should contact Crime Stoppers. Call the tip line, (800) 222-TIPS (8477), or text 274637, keyword LCTIPS.

Diana Alba Soular can be reached at (575) 541-5443; follow her on Twitter @AlbaSoular

Got a tip?

Contact Crime Stoppers:

-- Call (800) 222-TIPS (8477)

-- Or send a text to CRIMES (274637), keyword LCTIPS

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