A superstore boss paid a heavy price for rebuking his subordinate, as the disgruntled employee set fire to the whole store, causing property loss worth hundreds of thousands of pounds. Alexander Schnaider, 33, was changing price tags on items in a superstore he worked at Tomsk, Russia when he was scolded by his manager for mixing them up. Fed up of being frequently reprimanded by his boss, Schnaider allegedly dipped a box of fireworks in alcohol and set fire to it before leaving the store.
Life Shot reported citing a police source that Schnaider's job was to change the price labels but he refused to do that and on top of it, often put the wrong ones in the wrong place. "The manager regularly criticized him and made him redo it. So he was fed up and outraged with her," the source said.
The incident took place on Tuesday, December 21, following which, Alexander Schnaider was arrested by the police. He has been charged with arson motivated by 'personal enmity' against the management.
'I just turned around, put on my coat, and went home'
The suspect reportedly confessed to the police. He noted that he saw some white spirit on the counter and started spraying it and then 'set the whole thing on fire. "I saw a guard run up to try and extinguish it. I just turned around, put on my coat, and went home," he said.
Video footage of the incident showed the moment when Schnaider ignited the fireworks in the store, which were kept to be sold for New Year celebrations. The entire store was destroyed in the fire. Damage worth hundreds of thousands of pounds were estimated. Over 200 people, including customers and staff, were evacuated from the superstore and no casualties were reported. It took the firefighters almost 11 hours to extinguish the fire.
"We heard what sounded like shooting. We saw the fireworks shooting in all directions," said an employee. Speaking of the incident, Schnaider's mother said that he cannot explain his actions.
