An 18-year-old man was arrested on the night of Wednesday to Thursday, after the fire of a vehicle parked in front of a business targeted the day before by a suspicious fire in the LaSalle sector, in Montreal.
The Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) was alerted around 1:15 a.m. to a vehicle on fire parked on Thierry Street, near Turley Street.
The police who were monitoring the area around the New Lasalle Restaurant Pizzeria establishment noticed an individual with visibly suspicious actions.
Very quickly, the police arrested him, before taking him to the operational center to be met by SPVM investigators.
The fire was quickly brought under control by firefighters from the Montreal Fire Department (SIM), but the damage to the vehicle was significant.
Due to the possible presence of traces of accelerant, the investigation was transferred to the arson section of the SPVM, said spokesperson Julien Lévesque.
According to information from TVA Nouvelles, the individual who was arrested first drove into the vehicle in the business.
The car was also still partially embedded in the facade of the building several hours after the incident.
After driving into the building, the suspect allegedly got out of his vehicle and took off his sweater.
He then allegedly grabbed a can of gasoline, poured it over his sweater to make a rag to start the fire.
A security perimeter has been set up to protect the scene pending the arrival of investigators to try to better understand what happened, it was added.
