Editor’s note: A second suspect was charged in July 2024. A 27-year-old Barrie, Ont., man faces charges including causing an explosion likely to cause harm or death, making or possessing explosives and arson.
Eight months after an improvised explosive device went off in an apartment building parking lot in Barrie, Ont., police have made an arrest.
On Monday, detectives from the Barrie police street crime unit arrested 36-year-old William Ivan Downey in Ajax.
Police say he was taken into custody without incident.
On Sept. 27, 2023, police, fire, and paramedics responded to a call about an explosion at 108A Anne St. near Edgehill Drive in Barrie, said Peter Leon, corporate communications coordinator with Barrie police.
The explosion happened in a vehicle parked in the lot of 108A Anne St., not in the building itself.
Police said a homemade explosive device was found 10 to 12 feet from the vehicle in a nearby garden.
Barrie police say the 36-year-old was identified following a very “complex investigation” into what had taken place in the parking lot at 108A Anne St.
The man arrested has been charged with causing an explosion, intent to destroy, arson, making or possessing explosives, and breaching a probation order, among other charges.
He is being held in custody and remanded to appear by video at the Ontario Court of Justice in Barrie on June 4.
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