DETROIT – A family-owned business is struggling to rebuild nearly one year after someone intentionally set the business on fire.
Christopher Mills, 18, has been charged with third-degree arson for allegedly setting family-owned business S&C Glass on fire in April 2021.
Shop owner Curtis Sylvester Sr. says Mills was a familiar face who he’d see from time to time.
“I’ve seen him walking by during the summer almost every day,” Sylvester said. “He’d come by and go up to Gratiot or Family Dollar.”
Previously: ‘I’m lost for words’ -- Detroit family-owned business set on fire
Still, to this day, Sylvester has no idea why the 18-year-old would want to burn the shop down just one day after Easter.
“I helped a lot of the seniors in this neighborhood during the years,” Sylvester said. “The more I do this, the worst I feel about it.”
The heartache and pain from losing the shop he started back in 1974 has been too much for Sylvester to bare.
“I just want to let it go,” Sylvester said.
Although the shop has been fighting to make a recovery with renovations, he says it might be time to throw in the towel.
“I still feel that way, man,” Sylvester said. “I don’t even want to come up here.”
Last year, the shop owner said that due to the pandemic and other financial hardships, the shop unfortunately could not afford insurance.
Mills appears to be out on bond and on house arrest -- which is something Sylvester is concerned about, because the young man reportedly lives nearby.
Those who’d like to help the shop with repairs can click here.
