BOONTON, N.J. — Umang Patel, owner of the Cleanse-O-Matic drycleaning and laundry service store in Boonton, N.J., was charged with arson recently after the store caught fire.
Patel allegedly went into the store before 7:00 a.m. and set fire to clothes on racks behind the counter using a book of matches, Boonton Police Capt. Curt James told the local newspaper Daily Record. Patel walked out, locking the door behind him, and walked to a nearby McDonald’s, James said.
A passing Montville police officer noticed smoke near the building and heard the alarm sound, police said. When firefighters arrived, smoke was rising from the rear of the building, and the store’s sprinklers had partially extinguished some of the flames.
The store suffered heavy smoke and water damage, but the extent of damage to the customers’ clothing was unknown, the Daily Record reports. The store and the strip mall in which it’s located were unoccupied at the time, and no one was injured.
Patel, who remained at the scene with firefighters, was charged with second-degree aggravated arson, according to the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office. Police say Patel has owned Cleanse-O-Matic for about a year, and the store was up for sale at the time of the fire.
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