Arsonist sets family-owned Santee Alley beauty store on fire, family works to rebuild

Arsonist destroys Santee Alley business

An arsonist set fire to a business in Santee Alley in downtown Los Angeles. Now, the family is trying to recover.

LOS ANGELES - An arsonist was caught on camera setting a Santee Alley business on fire this week. Now, police are searching for the suspect.

What we know:

The fire happened in the early morning hours on Tuesday, July 8, at HM Hormiguitas Beauty Supplies. The crime was caught on multiple surveillance cameras in the alley.

In the videos, a man can be seen standing in the alleyway next to the store, holding a plastic bottle containing a liquid resembling gasoline. He walks toward the store, turns away, and then returns, pushing a dumpster to the side of the store. He crouches behind the dumpster and arranges some objects near the corner of the store. A fire erupts, and the man runs off down the alleyway.

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"He was wearing a mask, he was wearing a blue t-shirt, red shorts, red shoes, and he knew what he was doing," said Valerie Mendez, whose family owns the store. "We were definitely his target."

Another security camera shows the man clearly dumping some liquid near one of the business' metal security gates, before throwing a flaming object toward the puddle and sprinting off.

"This hurts us a lot, because our parents did this for us," said Alison Mendez. "Because they wanted us to have a better future."

What we don't know:

The suspect is still on the run. Officials haven't given any description of the arsonist.

What you can do:

Even before the fire, the Mendez family, a hardworking immigrant family, faced hard times. The year 2025 has been particularly harsh, with steep tariffs cutting into their profit margin and ICE raids scaring off customers in their immigrant neighborhood. The fire has now destroyed the beauty items inside their large store, which serves as their primary income source.

The family owns another location "In the Alleys," as locals call Santee Alley, but it is still building a clientele. They desperately need to sell products to pay their rent and clean up the store. When business slowed down, they chose to pay rent over renewing insurance.

"We're going to sell everything that we can to be able to pay for the repairs because we do need to clean the store out ourselves as well," said Alison Mendez.

The family has also established a GoFundMe campaign to help them rebuild. Information about that fundraiser can be found by tapping or clicking here.