Police are investigating a suspicious fire at an Italian restaurant in Saint-Leonard, the second suspected case of arson at a restaurant in less than 24 hours.
The first floor of a commercial building housing Ristorante Rimi at 8760 Pascal Gagnon St was apparently set ablaze at around 8:45 p.m. Wednesday evening.
Firefighters found two broken windows in the rear and Montreal police say the back door of the building was broken into.
A resident saw smoke coming from the restaurant and called the fire department, allowing them to quickly get the fire under control before it spread to the second floor of the building.
The incident came one night after another suspected firebombing at Café Calypso in Montreal North just after midnight very early Wednesday morning.
The café, on Forest St. near the corner of Bellevois St., was empty at the time of the attack and no one was injured.
The attack took place at about 12:50 a.m. when a passerby saw some flames coming out of the building and quickly dialed 9-1-1. Firefighters required little time to get the fire under control, and the damage was limited to the furniture inside.
Firefighters noticed that a heavy object had been thrown through the window to facilitate throwing some sort of firebomb into the restaurant.
This was just the latest in a series of firebombings that have plagued the city this year, something Montreal police has linked to a mafia turf war for control of the drug trade.
Dozens of similar incidents have taken place in Italian cafés and other businesses throughout the year, though it is unclear whether these latest incidents are indeed linked to the mafia.
Speaking to reporters in late November, the head of the Montreal police Economic Crimes division, Comm. Mario Lamothe, finally admitted what had long been suspected, that these attacks were a result of some sort of mafia war.
"We know it's mafia related," he said on Nov. 30.
According to documents handed out by police that day, 15 people were arrested for drug trafficking from Nov. 11 to Nov. 19 in St. Michel. Two more people were arrested on Nov. 24, and all had significant amounts of drugs including cocaine, hashish, amphetamines and contraband cigarettes.
Lamothe said that in recent months beat officers have visited more that 150 restaurants, stores and cafes, and that they will continue to meet with store owners.
Patrollers have been given a checklist of questions to ask, including trying to determine how worried merchants are about the threat of arson.
In November police arrested four people who are charged with arson and attempted arson, but more suspects are still at large.
Police are urging anyone with information about the arson attacks, or any other crimes, to contact their Info-Crime line at 514-393-1133.
