York Regional Police have charged a Vaughan man in connection with a car set on fire in a garage at Southlake Regional Health Centre.
Santiago Gonzalez Y Ramirez, 28, has been charged with arson, mischief under $5,000, and with two counts of assaulting a peace officer with a weapon.
The two counts of assaulting a peace officer with a weapon stem from when York Regional Police arrested Gonzalez Y Ramirez on Saturday. As two officers arrested the suspect, he poured an accelerant on himself and the officers while holding an igniter but was safely taken into custody before it could be lit, police said.
On Thursday, at 9:45 p.m. York Regional Police responded to a report of a fire in the parking garage of Southlake Regional Health Centre on the south side of Davis Drive east of Prospect Street, police said. Officers found a Porsche vehicle engulfed in flames on the fourth floor of the garage.
According to police, video surveillance showed an unknown male suspect loitering in the area before he approached the vehicle around 9:45 p.m., at which point he appeared to place an accelerant on the vehicle and it caught fire. The suspect was then seen leaving on foot and was last seen southbound on Prospect Street.
Through investigation and thanks to tips received from the community, officers identified the suspect and on Saturday, July 22, a warrant was executed at his residence in Vaughan, police said.
Gonzalez Y Ramirez remains in custody and is scheduled to appear in the Ontario Court of Justice in Newmarket on Monday, July 24.
This investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to contact the York Regional Police #1 District Criminal Investigations Bureau at 1-866-876-5423, extension 7142. Anyone wanting to provide information anonymously can call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS or provide a tip online at www.1800222tips.com.
