Crime Stoppers Offering Reward In Spring Garden Pharmacy Arson
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- A fire in July caused major damage to Waltmire's Pharmacy in the 1400-block of Spring Garden Avenue in Pittsburgh's Spring Garden neighborhood.
Now, Pittsburgh Crime Stoppers is offering a reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction.
In the early morning hours July 8, two men got into the store by forcing open the roll-up door.
Detective Mike Burns, of the Police Arson Squad, says the men poured some type of liquid on the counter in the back of the pharmacy, also on the display cases and shelves.
"We have surveillance pictures of them pouring some type of liquid on the counter in the back of the store, and also on display cases and shelves, all the way up to the front," said Burns.
Then, he says they used some sort of flame to set the place on fire.
Luckily, no one was hurt.
Owner Don Waltmire told KDKA-TV News he is not abandoning the neighborhood, however. He hopes to have the grand opening of his new pharmacy, in the same spot, next month.
"I just wasn't going to give up. I was here for 30 years. The pharmacy is my home, and the customers are my family," Waltmire says.
He said when he put up a mobile trailer to temporarily fill customers' prescriptions, people came up to him and said thank you for coming back. He responded saying, 'No, thank you for coming back."
Ironically, nothing was stolen from the pharmacy, no drugs or money, so the motive for the arson remains unclear.
Waltmire estimates the arson damage at about $200,000.
The Pittsburgh Crime Stoppers number is 412-255-8477.
Information leading to an arrest and conviction could be worth up to $1,000.
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