Brooklyn fire investigated as a hate crime after swastikas found spray-painted inside building
NEW YORK -- A fire that ravaged a Brooklyn apartment building and hair salon is now being investigated as a hate crime after two swastikas were found spray-painted inside the building.
Salon Rhed on Myrtle Avenue in Fort Greene is now a charred mess.
"This hair salon was crowded every day with customers," said the building owner, who did not want to be identified.
Authorities say the fire was intentionally set just before 1:30 a.m. Tuesday.
"Somebody entered the first door, and then they pried open the second door," the building owner told CBS2's Aundrea Cline-Thomas. "They continued down the hallway ... They put an accelerant against the door, and I believe they opened that door also and put an accelerant on the door."
"Our neighbors woke us up by banging on the window," resident Clair Chatinover said.
Smoke was already filling Chatinover and Jacob Fernberg's kitchen. They immediately headed to the fire escape.
"We grabbed whatever we could. I didn't have shoes on. Clair grabbed my passport. We had our cellphones. That was it," Fernberg said.
If the circumstances were not bad enough, two swastikas were found spray-painted in red on the walls.
"That symbol has come to represent white pride just as much as it is antisemitic, so it could be against the Black business owner or the Black landlord or us being Jewish," Chatinover said.
Thursday afternoon, hate crimes detectives arrived at the scene, but it's still unclear why the building was targeted.
"Hopefully, they apprehend the people that did this horrendous crime and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law," the building owner said.
All of the tenants made it out safely, but it could be months before they can return.
As for the crime, the building owner says an anonymous donor has provided a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.
A person wearing all black was seen at the location during the time of the incident. The NYPD is working to collect surveillance video, hoping it will help them identify the suspect.