The Ottawa Police Service (OPS) announced Thursday that it has arrested and charged Kody Crosby, 35, in connection with the February 13 explosion in the new Avalon Vista neighborhood of Minto, in the Orleans area. , located in the east of the city.
Four houses were destroyed and others were badly damaged. Four people were injured, including two workers.
Firefighters initially said a gas leak triggered the explosion.
Kody Crosby faces four counts of criminal negligence causing bodily harm, six counts of arson against persons and property and two counts of breaking and entering.
None of the current charges related to the explosion have been proven in court.
The suspect was known to the police
However, according to Pierre-Yves Bourduas, former assistant deputy commissioner at the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the arrest of the suspect was facilitated since he was known in police circles for this type of offence.
When the incident happened, the investigators, very quickly, seem to have put their focus on this individual
he analyzes.
Indeed, Kody Crosby has a criminal record that includes numerous previous charges of breaking and entering, theft, property damage and breach of probation, according to documents obtained by CBC/Radio-Canada.
Mr. Crosby has pleaded guilty to some of these earlier charges, including a series of business burglaries and the theft of a vehicle in April 2016. The nature of the sentence that was imposed in this case is not not clear.
Several other charges against Kody Crosby have been dropped, including dozens of alleged felony charges in 2019.
Among those removed in 2019, four related to an alleged break-in at the Blackstone neighborhood of Mattamy Homes in Kanata.
Police suspected Mr Crosby of breaking into two houses under construction in Rouncey Road, damaging the front doors of the houses and committing theft.
However, according to the court documents consulted, the reason for the withdrawal of the charges is not clearly determined.
On Friday, Kody Crosby’s attorney, Natasha Calvinho, declined to comment on the allegations against her client.
The suspect was also charged with breaking and entering a plumbing and heating business on Algoma Road on Christmas Day in 2018. That charge was also dropped.
Uncertainties surrounding the suspect’s involvement at the Minto construction site
Much about Kody Crosby, including any potential connection to the Minto construction site before the explosion, remains unclear.
Staff Sergeant Cameron Graham, of the Arson Unit of the SPO, declined to say whether Mr. Crosby was at the Minto site when the explosion occurred or whether he was injured, so as not to undermine the integrity of the ongoing investigation.
Employees of the Ottawa Fire Department at work on the scene of the explosion that occurred in the Orleans area on February 13th. (File photo)
Photo : The Canadian Press / Spencer Colby
Kody Crosby was not a Minto employee as far as we know
Mr. Graham said, noting that we need to dig deeper into this because there are a whole bunch of subcontractors involved
.
Minto also declined to say whether Mr. Crosby was an employee, instead referring questions to the police.
CBC/Radio-Canada has contacted more than a dozen contractors that the Department of Labor says have been involved with the Avalon Vista project over the past five years. Six companies contacted said they did not know Kody Crosby.
The cause of the explosion is still under investigation by the Office of the Fire Marshal of Ontario.
The SPO however, took over as the primary law enforcement agency five days after the incident.
A study of the reconstructed debris revealed a criminal action [qui] triggered a chain of events
which likely caused the explosion, said Staff Sergeant Cameron Graham.
With information from CBC News and of Camille Kasisi-Monet