With two young offenders in custody and a warrant issued for a third suspect in relation to Thursday night’s suspected arson at 3001 Dougall Ave., the Windsor police said social media played a key role in the investigation.
Det. Glenn Gervais with the Windsor police arson unit said they received multiple phone calls from the public after they released video surveillance Friday afternoon of people fleeing from the scene of the crime. With the video streaming online through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and local media, it was only a matter of time when they were caught, Gervais said.
“Through social media, people of Windsor saw something significant,” Gervais said. “That was how we got our initial tip. Then through old fashioned police work we were able to find the suspects.”
A resident’s home surveillance system caught three “persons of interest” on video. They are all white males and about 18 years old with thin builds. Two of them were riding BMX-style bicycles. The third was running carrying a backpack. The Windsor community took the story to heart, sharing it with their family and friends.
“I saw posts on Facebook and Twitter myself,” Gervais said. “The public was instrumental in this investigation.”
According to Gervais, the fire on Dougall Avenue caused more than $200,000 in damages – possibly close to $300,000 – but the investigation is far from over. The Windsor police said the investigation is still ongoing and additional charges may be laid.
“The major story here is the disruption to the business and family,” Gervais said. “Kids were up to no good and causing trouble. The owners have been nothing but cooperative. When you see a nice family suffer like them, you want to solve it quicker. We spared no resources, and officers have been working nonstop.”
Building owner Andre Abouasli felt nothing but relief when he heard the Windsor police had two suspects in custody and a warrant issued for the third.
“There was a bit of a relief that they found them,” he said. “It’s good that they found them, and hopefully they find the third one.”
Watching the building burn brought Abouasli to tears. After feeling “heartbroken,” he said he was overwhelmed by the support of the community and the Windsor police.
“I’ve been working so hard on this (business),” Abouasli said. “To have the community behind this and helping, it feels great. We try to get by and raise our family the proper way, work hard to make it happen. Thank God for everything.”
Abouasli said they haven’t done anything but good to the community and the people around them, which made the situation more painful.
“I’m really happy none of them got hurt. That would have been worse,” he said. “I hope those parents understand that and really teach them this big lesson. Every memory is a lesson. I hope somebody else learned a lesson – I learned a lesson. You can never be too careful.”
(with files from Trevor Wilhelm)
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