PHILADELPHIA — Authorities have charged the owner of a Fairhill pizza shop with lying to federal investigators and setting his own business ablaze, triggering a three-story building collapse that killed a 27-year veteran of the Philadelphia Fire Department, according to charging documents unsealed Tuesday.
Authorities allege that Al-Ashraf Khalil and another individual entered the basement doors of Star Pizza at 300 W. Indiana Street shortly before 1:30 a.m. on June 18 and started a fire in the restaurant kitchen, and later lied to investigators about his whereabouts that night.
Khalil, 28, was arrested Friday at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, after he had tried to flee to Jordan but was denied entry based on the arson investigation in Philadelphia, officials said.
