A month after fire at Westport restaurant, police still are searching for arsonists
Kansas City detectives are still looking for two people they say set a fire at a family-owned Westport shawarma restaurant a month ago.
The fire, which ravaged the interior of Haha’s Kebab’s and Shawarma at 204 W. 39th St. was ignited around 2:18 a.m. July 8 by two passersby, according to the Kansas City Police Department.
Surveillance video shared Wednesday by the police department shows two men in baseball caps standing outside the shattered front window at Haha’s before one throws a flaming object through the window into the restaurant.
The object appears to be a rag stuffed inside a bottle, similar to a Molotov cocktail. On the video, flames can be seen leaping into the air once the bottle hits the floor of the restaurant. As smoke and flames fill the restaurant, the two suspects can be seen walking away.
The fire spread to the entire restaurant in under two minutes, as seen in the surveillance video shared Wednesday.
Kansas City police detectives believe the suspects visited a local convenience store after setting the fire. On Wednesday, the department also shared photos of the alleged arsonists, as well as a white four-door sedan they are believed to have driven on July 8.
No arrests have been made.
Brothers Fouad and Firas Haha, who also operate Haha’s Pizza Hub at 3834 Main St., opened the Westport spot in 2019. Haha’s Kebab’s and Shawarma offers wraps, kebabs, combo plates and sandwiches. Both are fairly small restaurants with limited seating but a booming takeout business, catering particularly to late-night diners.
The Haha brothers were born in Jordan and moved to Kansas City in their teens. Their uncle owns Jerusalem Cafe, a popular Mediterranean spot on Westport Road.
Haha’s Kebab’s and Shawarma has been closed since the fire. Though the inside of the restaurant has been reduced to ash, the building still stands, with windows boarded.
Previous reporting by Joyce Smith was used in this article.
