The palm trees in front of PicaPica Plaza, a popular shopping center on the South Side, were set on fire early Tuesday morning, according to the business manager.

Manager Rudy Lopez told KSAT 12 he first heard about the fire from community members.

“I immediately rushed over here,” Lopez said.

Lopez said a man driving by at the time called 911 to report the fire.

Surveillance video from PicaPica captured a person walking towards the trees along the side of the building around 5 a.m.

“He took maybe 10-15 seconds in the back and as he’s walking out, you can see like a flashback boom, where I guess he had an accelerant, he had gas, he had something that started it up,” Lopez said.

Lopez said the suspect walked off as the fire started and disappeared off the camera.

“We couldn’t find hi

See Full Page