Police have issued a warning after they say a suspected serial arsonist set vehicles ablaze in a Richmond Hill neighbourhood in three separate incidents since June 10.
York Regional Police said the first incident occurred on June 10 on Estoril Street in the area of Berwick Crescent and 16th Avenue, east of Yonge Street.
Emergency crews responded to a home at around 1:15 a.m.
Three women were asleep in the home, when one of them heard a noise coming from outside, police said in a previous news release.
“When she opened the garage door, she saw her silver Subaru Crosstrek fully engulfed in flames in the driveway,” the release said.
Firefighters responded and the blaze was extinguished. It was contained to the vehicle and no injuries were reported, police said.
Investigators released surveillance video of the incident, which police said shows “a male suspect pouring a flammable liquid over the vehicle and setting it alight.”
Hours after police appealed for information in that case, the neighbourhood was hit with a second arson.
At around 12:30 a.m. on June 28, emergency crews responded to a home on Berwick Crescent, near where the first incident happened, for a vehicle fire.
Global News spoke to the victims in that case.
Carmela Aiello was asleep early that morning when her son began yelling that there was a fire outside.
She, her partner and their kids quickly moved to get out of the house, Aiello told Global News. They had just got their 2020 Dodge Caravan two days prior.
Aiello opened the front door, saw “flames everywhere,” and realized that they had to leave through the back of the house.
The fire department quickly responded and extinguished the flames. For the most part, their home was spared, though the garage door and second-floor windows suffered damage. No one was injured.
Aiello said what she experienced was “terrifying.”
At the time, police said it was too early to say if that incident was connected to the first arson.
“I don’t know what happened or why it happened,” Aiello said. “We learned that it happened down the street … we can’t sleep easy like that. We need more cameras, more monitoring….
“I just hope the police find who is doing this and we get justice,” she said. “And we can sleep easy at night because it’s not an easy feeling thinking that you were targeted.”
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Police said they now believe that fire was connected to the first incident, and also a third incident that happened early Thursday.
3rd arson reported early Thursday
At around 2:30 a.m., emergency crews again responded to a home on Berwick Crescent after a neigbour reported that a car was fully engulfed in flames, police said.
Firefighters extinguished the blaze and no one was injured.
“Investigators reviewed video surveillance from the third incident and observed a lone male suspect pour liquid over the vehicle before setting it alight and running away,” police said.
“It is possible the suspect was injured on this occasion.”
The suspect was described as a tall male with a medium build who was wearing a hooded jacket.
Police said he may have burns on his hands or face.
Officers are continuing to investigate and asked that anyone with information or video footage from the area around the time of these incidents contact police or Crime Stoppers anonymously.
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