Disclaimer: All persons are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — A New Orleans business owner says she is afraid for her life after a man set fire to her bail bond business.
After getting new equipment to replace what was destroyed in the fire, Michelle Lodree, the owner of Big Mama’s Bail Bonding, located in the 2900 block of Tulane Avenue in Mid-City, was able to review her surveillance footage, which showed the troubling sequence of events.
“First, they bust a window, and then they pour something,” Lodree explained. “They pour gas or something out of a jug and then light something and throw the fire in on top.”
The surveillance footage then shows the unidentified suspect walking away following the combustion inside Big Mama’s Bail Bonding around 4 a.m. Friday, Dec. 22. No one was inside.
According to Lodree, she’s being stalked by the perpetrator, whom she’s never met, and police have responded to her business multiple times already over less severe incidents.
“I keep getting the same officer, and he’s very dismissive of me,” Lodree said. “I have told him repeatedly that I fear for my safety and that this person is escalating every time.”
Much of her business is now destroyed.
“If it’s not burned, charred, covered in smoke, water, it’s all gone,” said Lodree.
She is now calling on nearby business owners to review their surveillance from Friday morning.
“I’m hoping that people will want to help and want to solve this, so it won’t happen to anybody else,” Lodree said. “I’m willing to even put up a five-thousand-dollar reward to anybody who can help the police or the fire department arrest somebody.”
The New Orleans Police Department says they are investigating the fire as a simple arson. A police spokesperson says no arrests have been made nor have any suspects been identified.
Anyone with information regarding this incident is urged to contact NOPD First District detectives at (504)-658-6010. Anonymous tips can be reported by calling Crimestoppers of Greater New Orleans at (504)-822-1111.
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