SAITAMA -- A Don Quijote outlet was hit Wednesday by arson for the second time in three days.
Employees and security guards at the Omiyaowada store in Saitama chased a suspect, who ran out of the store and sped away in a vehicle, Don Quijote Co.'s head office in Tokyo said.
The company said one of its security video cameras caught the suspect on tape. But local police later said it was not clear whether the person in the video actually set the fire.
According to the firm, the fire broke out shortly after 3 p.m. in the bedding section. It was extinguished after burning seven blankets, and nobody was hurt. All customers inside the store were safely evacuated.
A towel that was soaked with what appeared to be fuel oil was found at the scene of the fire, and police and firefighters have determined it was arson.
The Omiyaowada store was hit by a minor fire Monday evening -- about two hours and 20 minutes after a blaze at another Don Quijote store in Saitama that killed three employees.
Police have determined both of those fires were acts of arson.
The discount store chain denied on Wednesday media reports that its president will step down to take responsibility for the fires.
President Takao Yasuda has "no plan to step down at the moment," the company said in a statement.
In a news conference Tuesday, Yasuda said he bears "full responsibility" for the fires at the two outlets located close to each other in the city of Saitama.
Don Quijote, listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's first section, operates more than 100 discount stores, mainly in the Tokyo area. They sell everything from sex toys to luxury goods.