Maringouin's Only Supermarket Destroyed by Fire
First, their only gas station closed, and now, people in Maringouin are without a grocery store. Iberville sheriff's deputies say someone drove a stolen construction truck into Bobben's grocery store. The store is located off Landry Drive in Maringouin. Deputies believe the driver of the truck was trying to burglarize the place, but when the truck hit the building, it sparked an electrical fire.
The corner store was a daily stop for most people living in Maringouin. Kenny Thomas says, "People depend on us for food, bread, water, cashing checks, milk for kids. Its gonna be hard, only grocery store here." A hole in the side of the building, bricks scattered all around, and burn marks from the fire that sparked around 3:00am remain.
Employees of Bobben's grocery store returned late Wednesday morning to see the damage. Thomas says, "When I got here, I seen a big ol' hole in the store, smoking and burning and I been working here for 19 years. Hard to come and see that." In the 40 years this store has been here, no one has ever seen anything like this. Owner Nick Buriege has worked here for 20 years, and even he was too emotional to talk.
The Iberville Parish Sheriff's Office says whoever left this mess behind knew what they were doing when they plowed through the office here. Mike Sparks with the Iberville Sheriff's Office says, "Water truck stolen off construction site in Mall of Louisiana parking lot. Purposely ran into building." Right now, it's believed someone was trying to burglarize the store, but when they hit the building, they started an electrical fire and fled.
Buriege says a lot of people in town work for the same construction company the stolen truck used to do this was from, which is just another reason they believe this was no accident. Sparks says, "The way it was hit, angle, we just know it was done on purpose."
Now, 35 workers are out of a job and a community is without groceries, but that should only be temporary. Deputies say a witness saw a black man leave the scene of the fire in a yellow Nissan Maxima. If you know anything, call the Iberville Sheriff's Office at 687-3553.
Reporter: Tyana Williams, WAFB 9NEWS