A MAN believed to be homeless, Aurelio Reiong, was arrested for setting a former Garapan bar on fire Thursday afternoon.
Reiong appeared before Superior Court Associate Judge Teresa Kim-Tenorio for a bail hearing on Monday morning in the custody of the Department of Corrections and was charged with arson.
Judge Kim-Tenorio imposed a $10,000 cash bail on the defendant and remanded him to the custody of Corrections after the hearing.
Reiong was represented by Karie Comstock while Assistant Attorney General Dejon Redd appeared for the government.
Reiong was ordered to return to court on Feb. 16 at 1:30 p.m. for a preliminary hearing, and on Feb. 27 at 9 a.m. for an arraignment.
According to the complaint against Reiong, a witness told police that he saw a man enter the former Mom’s Round Two Bar & Grill.
A couple of minutes later, the witness noticed that there was fire inside the building.
The witness, who recorded the incident and called 911 to report the fire, said the strong wind caused the blaze to grow.
The witness later saw a man walking out of the former bar, wearing red short pants with no shirt. The man was later identified as Reiong and was apprehended by the police.
He told police that he went inside the building to “drink water.” He said he also smoked a cigarette and saw a pile of paper cardboard on the floor.
Reiong said he took his already lit cigarette and burned the “trash” inside the former bar.
Once he noticed that the fire was getting bigger, he said he fled the building to go to another establishment across the street to get drinking water.
No other information about the defendant was available as of press time Monday evening.
The Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services said the fire was controlled and extinguished by operation personnel at 1:53 p.m.
DFEMS did not report any injuries or fatalities on scene.
The former Mom’s Round Two Bar & Grill in Garapan was intentionally set on fire on Thursday afternoon.
Former Mom’s Round Two Bar & Grill in Garapan, Feb. 2, 2023.
