Merritt RCMP said they’ve made an arrest in a series of arsons targeting churches last week.
READ MORE: Arson probed in loss of Murray United Church, second Merritt-area church to burn down in one day
August David Caprian, 37, of Merritt remains in custody and is facing three charges of arson along with a charge of break and enter with intent to commit an offence.
Court records show he has a prior criminal record for theft under $5,000, assault and break and enter.
Get breaking National news
Two churches in Merritt, including the historic 143-year-old Murray United Church, were set on fire early last Friday.
RCMP said they later learned of two other churches in nearby Shulus, one of them abandoned, which also showed signs of break-in and arson.
- B.C. man who pulled over drivers with fake police lights gets conditional discharge
- Saskatoon police investigating city’s 10th homicide
- Ont. woman accused of stealing from hospital staff, patients faces dozens of charges
- 2 teens charged with murder in connection to pedestrian collision that killed 16-year-old
The Murray church was reduced to a chimney and foundations, while the Crossroads Community Church in Merritt suffered less severe damage from a small fire.
“They’ve had people in working all week, I know they sustained some fire and smoke damage, some water damage,” Dunsmore said.
“The Murray church, I’m not sure how you would value a historical church like that.”
Police are not speaking to a potential motive.
He was slated to appear in a Kamloops court on Friday.
— with files from Sean Boynton and Jordan Armstrong
Comments
Comments closed.
Due to the sensitive and/or legal subject matter of some of the content on globalnews.ca, we reserve the ability to disable comments from time to time.
Please see our Commenting Policy for more.