Man, 36, accused of sparking fires in Toronto's west end

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A 36-year-old man is accused of deliberately setting two fires hours apart in Toronto’s west end last week.

Toronto Police say officers initially responded around 4 a.m. last Thursday to a fire in the area of Shaw St. and Yarmouth Rd. – southeast of Ossington Ave. and Dupont St. – where they found a vehicle ablaze.

“No one was in the vehicle at the time,” Const. Laurie McCann said in a statement Wednesday.

Police determined a man seen “loitering in the area,” who fled the scene before officers arrived, was a suspect in the alleged arson.

Two hours later, around 6 a.m., officers responded to a second fire where a vehicle in a detached garage was set ablaze.

“Both the garage and the vehicle were on fire,” McCann said, adding nobody was inside that vehicle either.

The same man spotted at the first fire was also seen on the garage rooftop before the second fire was sparked. McCann said he fled the scene prior to police arrival.

Investigators released images of the suspect, who has now been identified.

Christopher Zachariah, of Toronto, is charged with two counts of arson/fire or explosion causing property damage, two counts of break-and-enter commit, failure to comply with a release order, and breach of probation.

Anyone with information regarding this arson investigation is asked to call police at 416-808-1400 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).

cdoucette@postmedia.com

@sundoucette