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Man, woman arrested 9 years after Rock Hill martial arts center arson

ROCK HILL, S.C. — Deputies announced Tuesday that they've made two arrests in a 9-year-old arson case in York County.

Authorities said Robert Lester was charged with setting Pak's Martial Arts Center in Rock Hill on fire in 2009.

Channel 9 learned an alleged accomplice, Catherine Neal, has also been charged with arson.

When the crime happened in June 2009, both suspects were teenagers. The fire broke out overnight and destroyed the building, and investigators found racist graffiti on the building walls.

The Pak family eventually rebuilt but the case went cold until the last few weeks.

"We had a temporary location and then, within like 10 months, we were up and running again in our same location, so that just shows the support that the community has given us,” Daniel Pak said.

Deputies did not discuss a motive for the crime or talk about the tip that led to the arrests.

They said Lester and Neal had no known connection to the martial arts school.

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