Surveillance video shows 2 men near church van before fire destroys it

Damage estimated at $28,000

SAN ANTONIO – Surveillance video showed two men brazenly destroying a South Side church van used to pick up kids for daycare, and church officials are asking why.

The security footage from around 11:40 p.m. Tuesday, showed two young-looking men stroll through the middle of the open driveway at the Miracle Center Church during a time of the evening when people still meet inside the buildings.

They walk up to the van and quickly throw something in a window, possibly broken by them. The men leave, and the van goes up in flames.

"Bewildered, like, why would you do such a thing to innocent people?" Monica Gonzalez said.

For more than 30 years, her family has preached at the church on Commercial Avenue.

She runs the day care, used by 75 children, which is reliant upon the van to pick up kids from three schools.

Arson investigators estimated the cost of the damage at $28,000.

The metal awning, a window of the multi-purpose building and the back of a second van also sustained damage.

The first van is a total loss though, with only a metal shell remaining.

"It's heartbreaking, because people don't realize that, you know, this is for the community. It's for the greater good," Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez said the private day care does not receive any government funds.

The church said they have had burglaries, graffiti and vandalism before, but nothing like this.

"Sometimes, I can't understand, you know, the evil in this world," Gonzalez said.