Las Cruces Sun-News
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LAS CRUCES - In commemoration of National Arson Awareness Week, May 2-8, the Las Cruces Fire Department is shedding light on a seven-year-old case that has yet to be solved.
On June 25, 2014, someone entered The Gen — at the time, a popular alternative fashion boutique at 1200 west Picacho Ave. — and set fire to the store. Las Cruces firefighters responded to the business shortly after 11 p.m. that day and had the fire contained within about 20 minutes.
The fire caused an estimated $500,000 in damage to the building and its contents.
Las Cruces fire and police investigators believe the arsonist, possibly a man, entered The Gen at about 11 p.m. that evening. The suspect, wearing white Tyvek-type coveralls like those typically worn by painters and laboratory workers, was seen on a surveillance camera walking through the building and toward a back room where the fire is believed to have originated.