Said Murekezi, accused in St. Paul mosque fire, charged with breaking windows at restaurant
MINNEAPOLIS -- A man accused of setting fire to a mosque in St. Paul last week now faces an additional set of charges for allegedly breaking into a restaurant a few weeks prior to the fire.
Said Murekezi was arrested and charged in connection to an attack on the Tawhid Islamic Center of Minnesota. Charging documents say he broke into the mosque on May 16 and stayed there overnight as he looked for things to burn.
The next morning, surveillance video shows him near the building as smoke is visible, documents say.
Murekezi was arrested last week, and during his interview, admitted to burglarizing a downtown St. Paul business.
According to the charges, police arrived at the Lost Fox restaurant in the early morning of April 28 to find a window broken, as well as the glass on the front door. The owner said it would cost a total of $5,000 to repair. Liquor bottles behind the counter had also been broken, and change from cash register drawers had also been stolen, documents said.
The glass at the restaurant next door, the Urban Wok, had also been broken, documents say. Video footage allegedly shows Murekezi wearing the same outfit during the burglary and mosque fire.
It was The Lost Fox's fourth break-in since the restaurant opened a year ago.
Murekezi had been in custody at the Hennepin County Jail from April 28 to May 15. He is currently in custody in Ramsey County.
In addition to the second-degree arson and second-degree burglary charges he faces in connection to the mosque fire, he now also faces third-degree burglary charges.
