Bomb squad called, arsonist arrested, third theft at Gosselin
By Robert Frank
www.thesuburban.com
Laval police are asking seniors to come forward and help them catch a pair of young men in their 20’s who have been brutally robbing the city’s seniors and making off with their jewelry.
“They have been roaming the streets in broad daylight looking for vulnerable elderly people to target,” Const. Nathalie Lorrain told The Suburban. “They throw them to the ground and once they’re down on the ground, they rip their necklace or bracelet off and flee with it.”
She said that both appeared to be of Arabic extraction and spoke English with a French accent.
“One of them wore a white sleeveless T-shirt with red shorts and matching red ball cap with the visor pointed backwards,” described Lorrain. “He was really clean and well turned out.”
“We are sure that there are two-to-three times more victims than have reported the crimes to us,” she added, “and we need more people to provide as many details about the perpetrators as possible, it will help us to arrest them.
The Sûreté du Québec bomb squad was called to a small, six-unit building, around 4 p.m., Aug. 15, after the janitor found a package that he thought contained dynamite in a vacant apartment at 7499 Arthur Sauve in Laval West.
Laval police photos appeared to show that it didn’t contain explosives, but evacuated the building completely, as a precaution. SQ bomb disposal experts subsequently confirmed that there was no threat.
Firebug caught
Police arrested a suspected serial arsonist in Chomedey, around 2:30 a.m. Aug. 15.
“The suspect had been lighting fires in recycling bins since last summer,” reported Const. Lorrain. “He lit about 20 fires, which never spread to houses or buildings.”
Whenwegotacallforafireon Samson around 11:15 the previous evening, police accompanied firefighters to the scene,” she said. “Then we received a call for another fire not too far away. Then a third call and finally a fourth fire in the same area of Chomedey. Finally, security cameras at 195 Promenade des îles captured the image of the suspect and his bicycle, which police officers recognized.”
“They surrounded his house,” she continued, “and took him to hospital after he threatened to kill himself.”
Arson charges are expected to be laid in at least four of the suspicious fires, and more might be laid later.
Thieves on YouTube
The owners of Gosselin Photo are so fed up after being burgled for the third time in five months, that they have put their security video on YouTube in the hope of catching the crooks.
“They stole about $50,000 worth of cameras this time,” said Const. Lorrain.
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