BY JENNIFER CABRERA

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – After Satchel Raye, the owner of Satchel’s Pizza, called 911 on Sunday night about a man who set six fires in his restaurant’s iconic van, he expected police to follow up promptly, but that didn’t happen. He posted videos of the suspect on Facebook, learned his identity, and heard from a customer last night that the suspect was at a downtown bar. However, in spite of calling 911 three times to report the location of the suspect, Raye said, the police never went to the bar.

Growing increasingly frustrated, Satchel’s Pizza posted details of Gainesville Police Department’s (GPD) lack of response last night on Facebook. Raye wrote, “I called 911 3x because I knew where this schizophrenic arsonist was, and they had better things to do than apprehend him in a 2.5 hour window… I don’t know what to do.”

Today, GPD Chief Nelson Moya and Gainesville Fire Rescue Interim Chief Shawn Hillhouse met with Raye, and after the meeting, Raye posted, “They assured me that they have what they need and they are on the situation. I was desperate because I was not getting the help I needed and just like we make mistakes sometimes at the restaurant, the police are humans as well and made some mistakes on their end.”

GPD released a statement today thanking Raye “for taking an active role in sharing information about the fires… GPD and GFR responded to the call, working in coordination to take information and collect evidence.

“As the investigation moved forward into Monday and officers filed reports, a shift transition led to a delay in assigning an investigator to the case. This resulted in a lapse in communication most acutely felt on Tuesday night, as Mr. Raye detailed in a Facebook post. At today’s meeting, Chief Moya acknowledged the error while emphasizing GPD’s continuing efforts to apprehend the suspect and protect public safety.”

“Whether you’re running a police department or a pizza restaurant,” said Chief Moya, “providing good service takes solid, reliable communication. We’re not going to drop [this] until we get this suspect, and we’re taking what we learned here so we can do better going forward.”

GPD has now arrested Legrand Tacogdoy, 42, who is also facing sworn complaints for theft and property damage related to incidents in other locations.