The Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) has arrested three suspects in connection with separate arson attacks that occurred in Montreal from Tuesday to Thursday.
Three men aged 18 to 38 were arrested and charged in connection with arson attacks in the boroughs of Lasalle, Saint-Laurent and Saint-Léonard in the past two days.
On the night of Wednesday to Thursday, the police intercepted an 18-year-old young man called Jupiter Sene shortly after the start of a fire in Lasalle. The entrance to the targeted business, at the corner of Thierry and Turley streets, was first smashed by a vehicle to allow the occupants to enter.
Mr. Sene appeared Thursday at the Montreal courthouse. He is charged with, among other things, arson and break and enter. SPVM investigators are continuing their efforts regarding another suspect involved in the same offence.
The day before, Wednesday at 7:40 p.m., another 20-year-old man was arrested and then released on a promise to appear regarding an arson attack in the borough of Saint-Laurent. The flames broke out in an industrial building on McCaffrey Street. Again, another suspect may be involved in the case and the investigation is ongoing.
The same evening, Wednesday, a 38-year-old man was arrested in connection with an arson attack in a business on rue Provencher, in Saint-Léonard. Simon Bilodeau appeared at the Montreal courthouse and was charged with arson and possession of incendiary materials.
The SPVM is asking for the public’s cooperation to move the investigations forward. Anyone with information can go to their neighborhood station, call 911, or share the facts anonymously and confidentially at Info-Crime Montreal (online or at 514-393-1133).
“The information held by a citizen may be information that will prove key in the development of the investigations underway by the arson and explosives team,” said SPVM in a press release.