Tourist burned down a Puerto Rico bar after being kicked out, authorities say

A Missouri woman has been indicted by a federal grand jury for arson after allegedly setting fire to a bar in Puerto Rico where authorities say she had twice clashed with employees on New Year’s Day.

The middle-of-the-night blaze destroyed Bar Marea and an adjacent restaurant, gift shop and fully booked hotel in the seaside town of Cabo Rojo, according to court filings. The roughly 20 guests who were staying there escaped, the filings said. On Jan. 2, affected businesses posted footage of the damage, and pictures and videos showing a woman they believed was at fault.

On Thursday, authorities arrested Danielle Bertothy, 36, in Missouri, where they allege she fled hours after the fire. She remained in custody Friday after an initial court appearance, according to Lymarie Llovet-Ayala, spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Puerto Rico. A bail hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.

Bertothy could not be reached for comment.

“This defendant will be held accountable for her dangerous actions that caused significant damage and put many lives at risk,” W. Stephen Muldrow, U.S. attorney for the district of Puerto Rico, said in a news release. She faces between five and 20 years in prison if convicted.

According to court filings, Bertothy booked an Airbnb near the scene of the fire from Dec. 30 through Jan. 11. On the night of Jan. 1, she showed up at Bar Marea around 8:30 p.m. and appeared to already be intoxicated, prosecutors said in court filings that cited witness statements. The owners asked Bertothy to leave after she became “belligerent and argumentative,” the filings said.

“While the waitress at Bar Marea was serving her and attempting to manage Defendant’s increasingly aggressive behavior, Defendant stated ‘that is why Puerto Ricans are the way they are,’” the filings alleged. “Her belligerent behavior soon escalated.”

After refusing to leave, police officers were called and escorted Bertothy back to her Airbnb, according to court filings. But Bertothy returned a short time later as the bar was closing, where she allegedly acted “more aggressively,” prompting another call to police, court filings say.

Surveillance video shows a woman whom witnesses identified as Bertothy carrying a red container and appearing to pour a liquid at the bar at 12:25 a.m. The Airbnb owner had provided Bertothy with the red container – a government-issued gas can – to fuel a generator in the wake of the Dec. 31 island-wide blackout, prosecutors allege.

After the fire ignited at the bar, a woman who authorities said matched Bertothy’s appearance was captured on surveillance video walking around the neighboring restaurant and toward Bertothy’s Airbnb.

Prosecutors say no one was killed in the ensuing fire thanks to “skilled firefighters and luck.”

“Although all persons were promptly evacuated, her actions took out four businesses that were left inoperable and multiple employees have been left without a job in the new year,” prosecutors wrote in court filings. “A whole community was scarred by her actions.”

In an emotional interview with Telemundo Puerto Rico last week, Luichy’s Seaside Hotel owner Angel Luis Marrero said he wanted the tourist to “pay for what she did.”

Authorities said Bertothy departed for the airport around 11 a.m. on Jan. 2, more than a week before her reservation at the Airbnb was set to end. She made it back to St. Louis on Jan. 3; that day, police in her suburban city of St. Peters interviewed her.

Bertothy told police she “did some things that were out of character for her” in Puerto Rico, according to court filings, but said she did not know if there had been a fire.

Days later, agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives executed a search warrant at her home. When they arrived, prosecutors wrote in court filings, she “started to hyperventilate and cry” and told them there was cocaine in the house. ATF and the Puerto Rico Police Bureau are investigating the case, the Justice Department said.

In court filings, prosecutors laid out a case for why they believe Bertothy should be detained ahead of a trial, alleging that she took time to plan her attack on the bar without considering the damage and potentially deadly consequences.

The motion for pretrial detention also describes Bertothy as a flight risk, given her early departure from Puerto Rico following the fire. “Boarding that flight was probably a relief, thinking she would leave Puerto Rico as another anonymous tourist, not facing the consequences of her crimes,” it says.

The case has gained widespread attention in Puerto Rico and among the broader diaspora, signaling the frustration that many on the island feel with visitors who behave disrespectfully.

In St. Louis, Alderwoman Daniela Velázquez has posted several times about the situation on social media, starting on Jan. 3 when she urged people to donate to the businesses and asked the woman’s reported employer to make sure she turned herself in.

Marrero, the hotel owner, told Telemundo Puerto Rico that he had begun efforts to repair his property. Through tears, he added, “What can I tell you? This is our business of eight years.”