Video shows a woman setting fire to Papi Cuisine in South Baltimore

BALTIMORE – A popular restaurant in South Baltimore was the victim of an arson attack Monday morning.

Alex Perez, the owner of Papi Cuisine, told WJZ that firefighters called his business partner around 6:45 a.m. after a fire at his business.

After reviewing surveillance video from the restaurant's cameras, the owners said a woman caught on camera walked between two dumpsters in the alley behind the business before lighting a fire. She is also seen throwing a cocktail bomb into the reception door.

Perez says the attack follows petitions to get him to close his business.

“We are resilient. We’re just running a business here,” Perez said. “We're not doing anything wrong. When the health department comes, they sign off and see that we are doing everything according to the rules.”

There was a sprinkler system in the restaurant's reception area that extinguished the flames inside and prevented further damage.

The woman was not caught.

However, Perez says community residents identified her and passed that information on to investigators.