Did motel owner start fire?

A Heber City motel owner who contends a fire that heavily damaged his business was a hate crime has been arrested by police who say he started the fire.

Mazhar Tabesh was arrested shortly after noon Wednesday for investigation of aggravated arson in connection with the July 21 fire that caused $100,000 in damage at the Alpine Lodge, 90 N. Main, Heber City. He posted bail and was released about two hours later.

But Tabesh told the Deseret News Wednesday that he is innocent. Furthermore, he said, his arrest on the one-year anniversary of 9/11 was just as racially motivated as the fire itself.

"They could have done this today or they could have done this tomorrow. I still have my job, and we're not trying to take off from this place. They have to show the world that they had to take a Muslim down on Sept. 11," said Tabesh, 39, who owns the hotel with his father-in-law.

Tabesh said he plans to hire an attorney to fight the police accusations against him.

"They're accusing me of things I have not done. They're telling me of proof they have against me. And it's garbage. It's absolutely garbage," he said.

Police defend their investigation and its timing, saying Tuesday's Sept. 11 date "chose us."

"All the other evidence that we'd been looking at, including a hate crime, turned out to be a dead end," Heber City Police Sgt. Jason Bradley said. "All the forensic evidence we obtained from the fire pointed toward him."

Bradley said it appears the fire was started in more than one spot using multiple accelerants, including gasoline. No one was injured in the fire.

Originally, it was believed the fire could be a hate crime. Tabesh, who is Muslim and from Pakistan, said he had received threatening phone calls a year earlier.

Last week, Tabesh took a lie detector test. He said he passed 30 of 33 questions. "Everyone who has gone through this test, they say their blood pressure goes up" which contributes to inaccuracies," he said.

The police haven't released the lie detector results.

At 10 a.m. Wednesday Tabesh met with police for what he believed was going to be an investigation update.

"They talked to me for 1 1/2 hours and finally said, 'You're under arrest. You're the suspect.' I was surprised. I can't believe that. They kept on saying if I confess, they will help me. And I told them there's nothing to confess on my part because I haven't done anything," he said.