Arrest made in arson at businesses off downtown Modesto. Crime caught on video
A suspect has been arrested on suspicion of arson for the fire that damaged Modesto businesses in a strip mall near downtown in mid-November.
The fire started after 5 a.m. Nov. 18, blowing the roof off a vacant unit. There was extensive smoke and water damage to Gottschalk Music Center, Annex Hair Studios and Project Blonde. The fire damaged the roof of Gottschalk Music Center and Annex Hair Studios, which are adjacent to the unit that caught fire.
Surveillance footage provided to investigators and reviewed by The Bee shows a person pouring liquid on the back of Gottschalk Music Center at E and Burney streets and within minutes smashing a window of a vacant unit in the building.
“An investigation into the incident revealed surveillance footage showing a suspect using a rock to smash a window, pouring an unknown substance inside the business, and then igniting the fire,” Modesto Police Department spokeswoman Sharon Bear said. “The suspect fled the scene shortly after.”
Ed Simon, the owner of The Smog Shop, located behind the building, provided authorities and The Bee with the security video of the events that morning.
It shows a person wearing black pouring liquid on the back wall of the Gottschalk Music Center just before 5 a.m. and then walking away. The portion of the building seen did not ultimately catch fire.
Additional footage shows the same person slightly after 5 a.m. walking across the back parking lot of The Smog Shop, wiping his feet, then throwing something into a window in the back of the vacant unit next to Gottschalk.
This same unit is seen on fire at 5:33 a.m. on security footage.
Shortly before 6 a.m., the building was still burning. Vehicles from the Fire Department can be seen reflected on the side of the building closest to Project Blonde and another emergency vehicle arriving.
“The fire was ultimately a second alarm fire with three battalion chiefs, a paramedic captain, the Stanislaus Regional Fire Investigation unit, eight engines and two trucks responding,” said Joseph Spani, a Modesto Fire Department captain.
Bear said the arson suspect, a 30-year-old Oakdale man, Julio Garibay, was arrested the next day shortly after noon near Morton Boulevard.
He is being prosecuted by the District Attorney’s Office for two criminal felonies, one for maliciously starting the fire and another for fleeing arrest in a vehicle. He was in custody Monday.
“At this time, a motive for the crime has not been determined,” Bear said.
Lynn Tim, owner of the salon Project Blonde, said she made the initial 911 call at around 5:30 a.m. after getting an alert from her smart camera. She said she could see smoke through the camera.
There were no injuries reported, but the businesses in the building are either permanently or temporarily relocated.
Tim said she doesn’t have a website, her clients book appointments by phone, so many of them did not know that her location on E street was closed.
Annex Hair Studios has created a GoFundMe to help recoup some of its business losses.
In a Nov. 20 post on Facebook, Leer wrote that Gottschalk “will be TEMPORARILY closing its doors.” She also wrote that the burned area of the business “was mostly empty. However, A LOT of smoke damage has covered the store in a thick layer of smoke and soot. Any instruments we have in the store will need to be thoroughly looked over, and any books and accessories are not safe and will need to be thrown out.”
This story was originally published December 3, 2024 at 9:26 AM.
