Man accused of burning Maine topless coffee shop where girlfriend worked is arrested in SC

Man held in SC over Maine topless coffee shop fire

AUGUSTA, Maine — A man suspected of burning down a Maine coffee shop that featured topless waitresses has been arrested in South Carolina.

Prosecutors say Raymond Bellavance Jr. was arrested Wednesday in a rural part of Spartanburg County.

Bellavance is from Augusta, Maine, just south of the Grand View Topless Coffee Shop in Vassalboro. He’s a former boyfriend of a waitress at the shop. He’s accused of burning down the shop last June.

The Portland Press Herald says Bellavance had been missing since he was released from jail in Augusta on April 2 after being held on an unrelated charge.

The Spartanburg County Detention Facility wouldn’t let Bellavance speak to a reporter by telephone Wednesday.

Coffee shop owner Donald Crabtree has reopened his coffee shop in a trailer.

Information from: Portland Press Herald, www.pressherald.com