Surveillance images show suspect in Laval daycare arson

The Laval Police are asking for the public’s help to identify a suspect wanted in conjunction with an arson attack at the Les Soleils du monde daycare centre for children in Laval’s Sainte-Dorothée neighbourhood.

Surveillance footage from Saturday Nov. 13 at 6:54 p.m. showed a suspect approaching the daycare and placing what looked like an incendiary item on the window.

According to police, the suspect quickly left the scene in the direction of a wooded area, between the CPE and Parc-école Pierre-Laporte.

The suspect is a Caucasian male. He was wearing a gray tuque, a gray hoodie under a dark blue coat and black sneakers with orange laces. The Laval Police noted that this was the third criminal incident to take place at this address recently. As well, there were fires in August and in October.

Anyone with information about the suspect or the arson incident is asked to call the LPD’s Info-Line at 450 662 INFO (4636) or 911. The file number is LVL 211109-023.

16-year-old Laval girl missing, and she could be in Montreal

The Laval Police are asking for the public’s help to find 16-year-old Sabrine Ghammouri, who has been reported missing for more than two weeks.

The LPD says Ghammouri made “worrying remarks about her safety” prior to going missing.

She is 5’4” (1.65 metres) tall, has brown eyes, black and red hair, speaks French and wears several earrings in her ears.

She left her home on Oct. 31 and didn’t return, according to the LPD, and may be in Montreal. Anyone with information about her whereabouts is urged to contact the LPD through its Info-Line at 450-662-INFO (4636) or at 911. The file number is LVL file 211031-073.

Laval Police discredit former officer’s crime analysis comments

The Laval Police Department issued a statement last week discrediting comments made by a former LPD officer about a recent murder in Montreal, while also disassociating the force from the ex-LPD policeman at the same time.

Former LPD officer Daniel Cléroux had made the comments on a Montreal TV station’s morning program, when he maintained that a 16-year-old youth who was shot to death in an incident in Montreal’s Saint-Michel district didn’t fit the profile of a gang member because of his race which was white.

Following the comments, a number of users of social media accused Cléroux of racism, saying he was stereotyping the situation. A spokesperson for the LPD said the force wished to distance itself from its former employee.

“In no way does the SPL advocate the comments made by Mr. Cléroux,” the LPD said in a statement to the Montreal Francophone daily Le Devoir, adding that the comments “don’t represent our values or our thinking.” According to the LPD, Daniel Cléroux retired from their ranks around 15 years ago to become a police and crime analyst, and “he no longer has anything to do with us.”