Remnants of a small fire set earlier this week along the wall of Nelson-Tebedo Clinic, right, and a fire set in the alley behind Alexandre’s today.
Alexandre’s re-opened at noon today (Friday, Nov. 5), nine days after a fire set on the outside back wall of the bar, in the alley at 4026 Cedar Springs Road, damaged power lines and electrical boxes, cutting power to the bar and forcing it to close until repairs could be made. But Lee Daugherty said this afternoon that the same person who set the Oct. 27 blaze started another fire earlier today in the same alley.
Take Back Oak Lawn, a neighborhood crime watch group, has identified 57-year-old John Roberson, who sometimes uses the alias John Simmons, as a person they believe is involved in a string of fires set in the Cedar Springs Strip area over the last month or so, including the fire that damaged Alexandre’s and a small fire near the wall of the Nelson-Tebedo Clinic, just down the block from Alexandre’s at 4012 Cedar Springs. Roberson is a Black male who is about 5 feet, 8 inches tall and weighs about 170 pounds. According to a Facebook post by TBOL, Johnson has been seen alone at more than one fire, has been ticketed for starting fires in the past, and was allegedly overheard saying “I’m going to light this place up,” in reference to Alexandre’s prior to the fire there on Oct. 27.
A TBOL representative has spoken with a representative for Dallas Fire and Rescue, who said that Roberson has a history of setting fires and has in the past admitted he does it because the fires excite him. The Dallas Fire and Rescue representative also told TBOL that they need a “need a witness who sees him put the ignition source to the material he burns” before they can arrest him on felony arson charges.
Anyone who sees Roberson or anyone else starting a fire should call 9-1-1 immediately. Follow the TBOL post on Facebook here.
— Tammye Nash