Man charged with arson following hearth at fashionable Pittsburgh scorching canine store – newsfeeds
PITTSBURGH – A Pittsburgh man faces charges after police said he started the fire that damaged a popular hot dog shop in Swissvale over the weekend.
Joseph Pepp, 28, was charged with three counts on aggravated arson and other charges following the incident at D’s Six Pax & Dogz on the 1100 block of Braddock Avenue around 2:30 a.m. Sunday.
According to the police, he started the fire in a dumpster behind the building that encroached on the store. According to indictment documents, Pepp was drinking in a The Loft bar next door when an argument broke out and he was thrown out of town.
About 10 minutes after Pepp was asked to leave the bar, the bartender received a call from a friend informing him that the back of the building was on fire.
Surveillance footage later caught the crime, and the bartender identified Pepp as the person who started the fire.
Three people, including the bartender, were in the building at the time of the fire, using fire extinguishers to try to put out the building. The Swissvale fire brigade arrived and put out the flames, but not before the flames damaged the building.
Pepp was arrested Tuesday in Wheeling, West Virginia, during a drug operation at a hotel. They said they prevented him from getting out of one of the rooms and charged him with possession, then gave his name and found out he was wanted for arson from Pittsburgh.
A Facebook post from the company said it will be closed at least until the end of the week to repair the damage.
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