JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — People at Jag Saloon said they were surprised to see the dive bar still standing.
Fuel on the ground didn't stop the iconic Lynyrd Skynyrd dive bar on Lenox Avenue from opening Wednesday night.
The bar's owner told Action News Jax that the man who tried to set the bar on fire was a regular.
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“He was a regular, and I told him I was going to burn down the store, and he tried to burn it down,” owner Kenneth Gray said.
An ordinary day at the Jag Saloon quickly turned into a very scary day.
Gray said the man comes to the bar almost every day. But today he brought a problem the size of two large tankards of gas.
Around 4 p.m., surveillance camera footage showed him struggling with someone behind him. We then see him walk away. That's when Gray said one of his employees called police.
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“She told me that one of the customers came in with several gallons of gasoline in his hands and was dousing the store with gasoline and saying he was going to burn down the store,” Gray said. Ta.
A man can be seen injecting gas into the building.
“I'm not only concerned about Barr, but also his health with him being in such a mental state,” Gray said.
In the video, you can see the moment everyone realized he had sprinkled fuel on the place. But soon a Good Samaritan sprang into action and tackled him.
Gray said the patron's actions came out of nowhere.
“I never thought in a million years he would do something like this…I was shocked,” Gray said.
The suspect then fled into the woods, and Gray said police searched for him with a helicopter and K-9 unit.
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“We're going to make sure he never comes back – we're going to fix it… but we're not going to let him run around with gas trying to burn the place down.” No,” Gray said.
Mr. Gray said that many people like to come to this place and take pictures. Anyone who knows the Lynyrd Skynyrd song “Gimme Three Steps” will know what I'm talking about.
But Gray said the suspect was arrested after several hours of searching.
The State Fire Marshal's Office is currently investigating.
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