Twice this month - and for the third time in four years - fires have been intentionally set at Tucson tattoo parlors owned by Nicholas Becker.
Early Friday morning he received two calls from his security company. The first alerted him to a blaze at his K42 Tattoo and Body Piercing shop on East 22nd Street. The second warned of an attempted break-in at his shop on East Speedway, said his wife, Tara.
The Speedway location hadn't even opened yet when someone set fire to it Dec. 7. Now workmen are rushing to finish repairs so it can open this weekend. In the meantime the Beckers, and Darlene Levitski, who owns the commercial building on 22nd Street, are assessing the damage from the most recent arson fire.
Calls came in to the 911 emergency dispatch center at 5:20 Friday morning reporting smoke and flames coming from the tattoo shop at 6142 E. 22nd St., said Capt. Jeff Langejans, a Tucson Fire Department spokesman.
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While an engine company crew searched the building, a ladder company cut a hole in the roof to vent the heavy smoke, heat and toxic gases.
It took 12 units and 28 firefighters about 24 minutes to extinguish the blaze.
Damage was estimated at $300,000, Langejans said.
While firefighters were assessing the damage on 22nd Street, a crime scene unit from the Tucson Police Department was gathering evidence at the second K42 location, 3455 E. Speedway, Tara Becker said.
"The back door is a steel door and someone tried to pry it open," she said. "They absolutely tried to hit both shops today.
"This is obviously a personal attack. They need to put some effort into finding out what's going on," she said of the police. "This is out of control."
Three weeks ago, in the early- morning hours of Dec. 7, a fire was intentionally started at the midtown K42 shop that caused an estimated $20,000 in damage. When fire crews arrived, the glass front door had been smashed and the fire sprinklers were running, which likely mitigated the damage.
The fire in 2008, which occurred just a couple of weeks after the 22nd Street location opened, caused an estimated $50,000 in damage, mostly to the contents of the shop rather than the structure of the building.
Tucson police are also taking another look at a case of vandalism that occurred about 18 months ago, Tara Becker said, when someone poured a flammable liquid on her car and in the gas tank while it was parked at their home.
Levitski, who thinks of Nicholas Becker as a son, is hoping that security video from the 2008 arson, in addition to the shop's video from Friday's fire and photos and video from surrounding businesses and traffic cameras, will give police the evidence they need to make arrests.
For now, the Beckers are trying to figure out what to do next to protect their businesses. They are considering hiring around-the-clock guards or keeping the shop open 24-7 with staffers present at all times.
Future attacks on the shop also are of concern because the Beckers' daughter spends much of her free time at the shop with her dad while her mother is at work.
Tucson police investigators did not provide any additional information Friday.
On StarNet: If you want to know more about crime in Tucson, check out the StarNet Police Beat blog at azstarnet.com/policebeat
"This is obviously a personal attack. (Police) need to put some effort into finding out what's going on. This is out of control."
Tara Becker, wife of tattoo shops' owner Nicholas Becker
Contact reporter Kimberly Matas at kmatas@azstarnet.com or at 573-4191.
