Police arrest teen after alleged arson at Montreal eatery

Montreal police say they’ve arrested a 15-year-old boy in an alleged arson attack on a restaurant in the city’s east end last weekend.

The suspect was arrested in the southwestern Montreal borough of LaSalle and appeared in Quebec Youth Court on Monday on charges of arson, possession of incendiary materials, break and enter with intent and possession and use of explosives.

Police say that at about 3:35 a.m. on Sunday, a 911 call came in reporting a fire in which a window had been smashed and an incendiary object was found inside the building, causing minimal damage.

The same business in the borough of St-Léonard had been hit by arson early on Sept. 20, but police have not discussed a motive for the attack.

However, Montreal police chief Fady Dagher said in a number of media interviews on Monday that a spate of recent fire-bombings and arsons in the city are tied to extortion attempts by street gangs attempting to wrest control from traditional organized crime.

He encourages businesses, bars and restaurants targeted to come forward and file complaints.