Suspect wanted for allegedly setting on fire two vehicles and garage in Christie Pits
Toronto police have released a photo of a suspect accused of deliberately setting two vehicles and a garage on fire in the Christie Pits neighbourhood on Thursday.
Police said they received a call at 4 a.m. for a vehicle fire in the area of Shaw Street and Yarmouth Road, south of Dupont Street.
When they arrived, crews found a burning vehicle, which was unoccupied at the time, police said.
Officers did not locate a suspect.
About two hours later, crews responded to a fire in a detached garage.
Police said both the structure and a vehicle inside were on fire. No one was inside the vehicle at the time.
An individual was seen on the garage rooftop before the incident, police said. However, officers did not find the suspect upon arrival.
The suspect is described as being in his 30s, between five-foot-six and five-foot-eight, with a slim to medium build, light brown hair in a ponytail, and clean-shaven. He was last seen wearing a blue sweatshirt, blue sweatpants and grey shoes.
Police are asking anyone with information to contact them at 416-808-1400 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477).
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
National Post
an hour ago
- National Post
Avi Benlolo: The Jewish community deserves to live in peace
Canada is at a crossroads. In the face of growing hatred and escalating threats toward the Jewish community, we must confront a difficult truth: antisemitic violence is no longer a fringe concern — it is now a coordinated and dangerous threat to public safety and national values. Article content Over the past year, antisemitic incidents have surged. In cities like Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver, Jewish schools, synagogues, and community centres have been targeted with threats, vandalism, arson, and even gunfire. These are not isolated events — they reflect a disturbing pattern of extremism taking root in the public square, online spaces, and protests where hate speech and glorification of terrorism go unchecked. Article content Article content Article content The case for a national response is stark. After the Hamas-led October 7th massacre in Israel, Canada experienced a sharp rise in antisemitism. Toronto recorded 443 hate incidents in 2024 alone — 40 per cent targeting Jews. Across Canada, there was a 670 per cent increase in antisemitic incidents since the attack. In Vancouver, Jewish institutions were threatened and set on fire. Most shockingly, a Jewish girls' school in Toronto was shot at three times. These are not abstract statistics — they reflect a wave of hate crossing into real-world violence. Article content Article content In response, I've begun writing a White Paper for a new national conversation — working with friends and leaders in government and law enforcement to explore concrete actions that protect the Jewish community and reinforce the values of our democracy. The response to having the conversation has been overwhelmingly positive across the country. Article content One of the greatest concerns is deterrence. Hate groups and extremists feel emboldened, often because they believe they can act with impunity. This must change. Deterrence theory offers a clear path forward: offenders must know they will be caught swiftly. In other words, the response must be immediate and the severity must be strong and unambiguous, with meaningful penalties that reflect the seriousness of these crimes. Article content Article content In order for this to succeed, first, we must reform how hate crimes are prosecuted. In Canada, charges require the consent of the Attorney General — a political hurdle that delays justice. That requirement should be removed, allowing police to lay charges based on evidence and the courts to determine outcomes. Article content Article content Second, existing hate crime laws must be applied consistently as the law of the land. Canada already prohibits hate speech, incitement to genocide, and the promotion of violence, but enforcement appears to be timid and selective. These laws must be used fully and without hesitation. Article content Third, we need a dedicated national enforcement unit focused on antisemitic and ideological hate. Canada has long had units to combat organized crime — this is no less urgent. Hate groups are becoming more coordinated and violent against Jewish citizens. Law enforcement must be equally coordinated in its response. Article content Fourth, I'm proposing a new national security strategy — S.N.A.P.: Share, Notify, Act, Protect. It calls for improved intelligence sharing across agencies, real-time alerts for Jewish communities, swift legal action, and visible protection of high-risk institutions. This model moves us from a reactive stance to a proactive one. Article content Fifth, we must modernize protest laws. Inspired by recent U.K. reforms, Canada should adopt clear rules: require and enforce advance notice of protest marches; place limits on time, location, and methods; prevent seriously disruptive protests; and restrict demonstrations near Jewish events. Issue immediate and heavy fines. These measures preserve freedom of expression while safeguarding public order and safety. Article content Sixth, legal definitions must be updated to reflect modern threats. Online radicalization, glorification of terror, and hate propaganda must be addressed with new legislation, including reinstating Section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act curtailing hate online and digitally. Article content Canada also rightly recognizes that free speech has limits — especially when it infringes on the safety and rights of others. Pro-Hamas groups may have the right to protest peacefully, but they are not free to block Jewish Canadians from attending events or entering synagogues. They are not free to harass, intimidate, or chant genocidal slogans. This is not free speech — it is hate speech. And under Canadian law, it is not protected. Article content These ideas are drawn from my extensive consultation with political leaders and law enforcement leaders. They are not the final word — but the beginning of a critical national conversation. In the 1980s and 1990s, it was primarily the Jewish community that helped shape Canada's hate crime laws in response to a rising Neo-Nazi threat. Today, the threat is more lethal, more ideological, and more public — and reforms must rise to meet this moment. Article content
CBC
an hour ago
- CBC
Sister of Winnipeg man who died in detox wants to know why he wasn't hospitalized
Social Sharing The sister of a man who died after being placed in a Winnipeg detoxification centre wants to know why her brother was not hospitalized instead. Alishia Brass said her brother Aiden Genaille, 24, died at the Main Street Project on June 27 after he was detained by the Winnipeg Police Service. She fears her brother was not provided with sufficient care because he was intoxicated. "I feel like they just treated him with no respect and just didn't care," she said. "I just wanted him to be treated fairly." Earlier this week, Winnipeg police said officers responded to a report of a man being assaulted by a group of people on Mayfair Avenue in Winnipeg's River-Osborne neighbourhood shortly after 5 a.m. on June 27. The attackers had left by the time officers arrived, police said in a Monday news release. The man was medically cleared by paramedics and declined police involvement in the investigation of his assault, according to police. The assault victim was detained under the Intoxicated Persons Detention Act — which allows officers to detain someone if they are intoxicated and police fear they are a danger to themselves or others — because he was intoxicated and for his own safety, police said. He was taken to downtown's Main Street Project, where he was medically cleared a second time and placed in the detoxification facility's care, according to police. Shortly before 11 a.m. that day, the man experienced a medical emergency and was taken to hospital, where he was pronounced dead, the police news release said. Police did not identify the man, but Brass confirmed it was her brother. She said she wants to know why police did not take him to hospital instead of to the Main Street Project. She also wants to know why no one "[made] sure he was OK before they threw him into his cell, or at least check on him or give him some decency, a chance to live, even," she said in an interview on Wednesday. She also said no member of her family was allowed to see Genaille's body or identify him at Winnipeg's Health Sciences Centre. The Main Street Project said it can't comment on the man's death because it is under investigation, spokesperson Cindy Titus said in a statement. But Jamil Mahmood, the Main Street Project's executive director, said paramedics assess every person who is brought into the facility. People in the Main Street Project's care are also checked on every 15 minutes and woken up every hour, Mahmood said. Police said the Independent Investigation Unit, Manitoba's police watchdog agency, has been notified of the death and has assumed responsibility for the investigation. That investigation prevents the Winnipeg Police Service from commenting, spokesperson Const. Dani McKinnon said in a statement. Brass said she does not know why anyone would assault her brother.
CBC
an hour ago
- CBC
Government 'dragging their feet' in compensation talks, says man wrongfully convicted in 1973 Winnipeg murder
It's been over 50 years since Brian Anderson was convicted of a murder he didn't commit, almost two since his name was finally cleared and about 14 months since he sued all three levels of government in hopes of getting compensated for everything he lost — but after all that time, he says neither he nor his co-accused have seen a cent. "They were quick to convict, but when it's time to find it the other way around, [they're] dragging their feet," Anderson said in an interview with his daughter at their home in Selkirk, Man. Anderson was one of four young men from Pinaymootang First Nation in Manitoba's Interlake area convicted in the 1973 killing of Ting Fong Chan. Chan, a 40-year-old father of two, was stabbed and beaten to death near a downtown Winnipeg construction site as he walked home after a shift at the Beachcomber restaurant. Anderson, Allan Woodhouse and brothers Clarence and Russell Woodhouse were rounded up by police largely because of eyewitness accounts following Chan's killing that mentioned Indigenous people. All four ended up convicted in Chan's death based mostly on confessions in fluent English that police said they got from the young men — even though some of them barely spoke the language, and all said they had been forced or tricked into signing the admissions of guilt by officers who assaulted them. The case was prosecuted by George Dangerfield, who was the Crown attorney in four other wrongful conviction cases. Though concerns about the men's innocence were raised early on, it took until July 2023 before Anderson and Allan Woodhouse were finally exonerated, and until October 2024 for Clarence Woodhouse. Efforts to posthumously exonerate Russell Woodhouse, who died in 2011, are ongoing. The three surviving men have since filed lawsuits seeking compensation from all three levels of government, who have denied fault in statements of defence. The compensation case is scheduled to be back in court for mediation later this month, with trial dates set for 2027. Clarence Woodhouse, who filed his lawsuit in February, said though he's not as concerned about how long things are taking, being compensated for his wrongful conviction would mean a lot to him. "I'm just waiting," said Woodhouse, now 73. He hopes to eventually use compensation money to move out of his son's home and get his own place. "I always wanted to … buy a house somewhere." Meanwhile, Anderson said while it was "nice to hear" acknowledgments of his innocence and of the racism that marred everything from the police investigation to the men's trial, he feels he's had to go from proving he didn't kill anyone to proving he should be compensated for the time he lost, before he can truly move on with his life. "They can say whatever they want," said Anderson, who spent about a decade in prison and was on parole from the 1980s until 2023. "The main thing here is that we want justice too, but we haven't seen it. It's talked about, but where is it?" Anderson also hopes any compensation money will help him get his own place and move out of his daughter's house. After getting out on parole, he said he struggled for years to find anything more than low-paying "dead-end" jobs when potential employers learned he'd been in prison, despite getting his Grade 12 education and a welding certificate. 'Everybody's pointing the finger' Anderson's daughter — who's played the role of his advocate, communicating with lawyers and setting up meetings for the last number of years — said she fears what might happen if discussions keep dragging out. Her dad recently turned 70. "I can't help but feel like they're just trying to prolong and delay to the point where they don't have to give anything. I can't help but feel like they're waiting for these men to pass, and that's such an awful thing to say, but in my heart I feel like that's what's happening," Whitney Anderson said. "Everybody's pointing the finger at each other, and nobody's wanting to take accountability for their side." She said she knows how much of a role systemic racism played in sending her dad to prison and keeping him from clearing his name for so long, and she feels it's also a factor in why his compensation talks are taking so long. Spokespeople for the City of Winnipeg, Manitoba's justice minister and the federal justice department would not comment on the case. Winnipeg police said they had no update on their investigation into who killed Chan in 1973. As for Anderson, he hopes to see his case dealt with so he can finally get on with his life — and soon.
