A 15-year-old boy has been charged for allegedly setting fire to a restaurant in the city’s east end last weekend, Montreal police said Tuesday.
The suspect was arrested in Montreal on Sunday and appeared in Quebec youth court the next day on charges of arson, possession of incendiary materials, break and enter with intent, and possession and use of explosives.
Police said that around 3:35 a.m. on Sunday, they received a report about a fire, and discovered that a window of the restaurant had been smashed and an incendiary object was thrown inside, causing minimal damage.
That business, located in the St-Léonard borough, had been hit by arson early on Sept. 20, but police have not released a potential motive for the attack.
However, Montreal police Chief Fady Dagher said in a number of media interviews on Monday that a spate of recent firebombings and arsons in the city are tied to extortion attempts by street gangs trying to wrest control of the protection racket from traditional organized crime.
In March 2023, three police services launched a co-ordinated investigation targeting extortion, threats and arson against merchants in Montreal, its northern suburb Laval and the North Shore.
Numerous arrests were made after several merchants reported being victims of threats, armed attacks, arson, extortion or gunfire.
On Monday, Dagher encouraged businesses, bars and restaurants targeted with extortion to come forward and file complaints.