A 27-year-old man is in custody accused of setting a fire outside a Keewatin Street townhouse early Wednesday morning that sent two residents to hospital in critical condition.
Izak Catlen Eldon Sararas was arrested later that evening, Winnipeg Police Service spokesman Const. Jason Michalyshyn confirmed Friday.
Sararas was in the area of Health Sciences Centre when police questioned him on an unrelated matter and later identified him as a suspect in the fire, Michalyshyn said.
Court records show Sararas has been charged with three counts of arson with disregard for life and three counts arson to property. He has no prior convictions in Manitoba.
Emergency crews were called to a fire at a two-storey townhouse apartment building at 820 Keewatin St. at 3:30 a.m. and rescued two residents trapped inside. Another eight residents were helped out of the building.
“A couch was set on fire against the building and caused significant damage … to the point one of the suites was completely engulfed,” Michalyshyn said.
The two trapped residents were rushed to hospital in critical condition. Michalyshyn could not provide an update as to their medical status.
The accused “was cautioned that charges could be upgraded if the conditions of the victims changed, that is, if they died,” Michalyshyn said.
Michalyshyn said Sararas has been charged with an additional count of robbery, after he allegedly tried to rob a man of a cigarette just 20 minutes before fire crews were called to the townhouse fire. The target of the robbery was not injured.
Police allege Sararas also set three garbage bin fires on the 900 block of Keewatin Street.
dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca
Dean Pritchard
Courts reporter
Dean Pritchard is courts reporter for the Free Press. He has covered the justice system since 1999, working for the Brandon Sun and Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 2019. Read more about Dean.
Every piece of reporting Dean produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.