Off-duty officer confronted man with a jerry can leaving scene of Vancouver fire, police say
Vancouver police arrested a 42-year-old man suspected of arson in three fires at Masonic lodges in Metro Vancouver on Tuesday morning.
The arrest came after an off-duty police officer driving past the Masonic temple near Rupert Street and East 29th Avenue in Vancouver noticed a man walking away from the building as it burned, according to Vancouver Police Department (VPD) Const. Tania Visintin.
Video taken by a bystander shows flames licking at an entrance to the temple as a man carries a red jerrycan to the trunk of a black van. He is then confronted by the off-duty officer.
The man managed to get away but was then arrested just before 10 a.m. in Burnaby near North Fraser Way and Marine Way, about a 20-minute drive from the location of the last of the fires, according to police.
“He did a great job in stopping and speaking to this suspect,” Visintin told reporters during a news conference, referring to the off-duty officer.
“He attempted to take the suspect into custody, a fight ensued, and the suspect was able to get away.”
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