ST. LEONARD - Montreal police have charged three men in connection with an arson attack at a St. Leonard funeral home owned by the Rizzuto family.
The overnight arson attempt in east-end Montreal appears to be the latest attack on the crumbling empire built by the late Nicolo Rizzuto.
Shortly before 1 a.m., witnesses saw two men in dark clothing hurling a Molotov cocktail at the Loreto funeral home, located on Des Grandes Prairies near Viau. The men jumped into a waiting car that sped away from the scene.
A night guard spotted the arsonists and, minutes later, police were able to arrest three suspects on Cremazie near 22nd avenue in Rosemont.
"We received quickly good information which helped with the arrest of those three suspects," Constable Yannick Paradis told CTV Montreal's Stephane Giroux.
Julien Bourassa-Richer, 26, the registered owner of the getaway car, Alexandre Touary, 27, and Sounthone Chareunsouk, 30, appeared in court Thursday afternoon.
They are facing four charges, including possession of Molotov cocktails and conspiracy.
Chareunsouk recently served a 27-month sentence for armed robbery. He also faces charges of cocaine possession related to his arrest.
Crown prosecutor Pascal Dostaler said the Crown opposed bail because of the seriousness of the crimes.
"The evidence is pretty strong and those individuals have prior convictions,'' he said.
He noted police who stopped the trio in Bourassa-Richer's car shortly after the firebombing detected a strong smell of gasoline on them.
Dostaler wouldn't confirm any links between the attack on the funeral home and other crimes
Site of Rizzuto visitation
The Loreto funeral home is the same place where mourners recently attended a visitation for the late Nicolo Rizzuto, who was killed by a sniper in November at his home.
Investigators don't expect to get much help from the three suspects.
In previous cases, other arsonists turned out to be low-ranking criminals acting on behalf of other more powerful criminals.
Dozens of Montreal companies have been the target of arsonists in the past 18 months.
Arsonists have tried to burn down pizzerias, cafes, delicatessens and other small companies, often by smashing a window and tossing a Molotov cocktail inside.
Police have said that many of the locations that were attacked were being used by drug dealers with links to the mafia.
At that time, police said that 19 arson attacks were linked to the drug trade.
Rizzuto clan influence diminished
Nicolo Rizzuto was the patriarch of an organization that has been under attack for months.
A year before Rizzuto was killed, his grandson Nicolo was shot dead in broad daylight in N.D.G.
64-year-old Vito Rizzuto is currently serving a prison sentence for racketeering in the United States.
A number of other associates of Nicolo Rizzuto have gone missing or been found dead over the past year.
Experts say that rivals are simply trying to wipe out any remaining power the organization has after so many of its members have vanished, been killed or sent to jail in recent years.
- with files from The Canadian Press
