Pizzerias burnt down: at least 30 cases in a year and a half

Two Molotov cocktail attacks on Montreal’s North Shore on Wednesday night brought the number of fires at pizzerias to at least 30 since January 2023, according to a review of the incidents. Newspaper.

• Read more: [PHOTOS] “Many sacrifices lost”: Up to $10,000 to find man who burned down his pizzeria

“It’s been going on for a long time, the pizza war,” observed a worker cleaning the Bravo pizzeria restaurant on the 25th yesterday in desolation.^e Avenue, on Saint-Eustache.

For his part, his boss and owner of Sinistrebro, Jimmy Berube, says he’s been dispatched to six pizzerias that have burned down since the beginning of the year.

Jimmy Berube, owner of SINISTERPRO.

Photo by ZOÉ ARCAND

The authorities were informed about the fire a few hours earlier, around midnight.

Total loss

At the site, police understood a Molotov cocktail had been thrown at a pizzeria owned by Baran Gokahal.

“It’s a total loss,” laments his wife Ghisline Topada, who also looks after the business.

“Maybe it’s competition,” he thinks, “so many pizzerias operate in the area. For two years, we’ve put our entire savings into this. We’ve given each other body and soul.

In the early hours of the morning, two hours after this strike, another Molotov cocktail was reportedly thrown at a pizzeria 20 km away, on Boulevard Curé-Lable in Blainville.

This time, the target was the Pizza Excel restaurant. We still don’t know if these events are related.

War or extortion?

In the morning, the owner told us he had “no idea” about the motive and did not want to comment on the matter.

The police are yet to speculate on the reasons for this.

However, these pizzeria fires are in addition to the thirty listed by Le Journal since January 2023. Most of the reported disasters occurred in Greater Montreal and its suburbs.

While some people think of a fierce ground war, a former police officer probably sees it as a system of threats and ransoms to be paid in exchange for protection.

“If we eliminate arsonists and accidental causes, we are faced with few options,” argues Andre Gelinas, a former investigator with the Montreal City Police Department and a criminal investigation expert.

“That’s one thing Scams Security: Extortion, people who don’t want to pay, or it’s turf wars,” he says.

Andre Gelinas, former SPVM police officer.

Photo courtesy of Valérian Mazataud

According to him, it is not necessarily a criminal organization behind many of these cases.

“What you have to understand is that this method is as old as time. It’s been proven,” Mr. Gelinas explains.

Cooperation

Also, the expert says that it is sometimes difficult to put an end to this phenomenon due to the “poor cooperation” of the owners.

“Some people are afraid, with good reason,” he insists. But if you don’t cooperate, it never ends.

“Sometimes that can play a role Rough», concludes the retired police officer.

There have been several pizzeria fires in previous years, including four waves in Contrecour and Sorrel-Tracy in 2020 and 2021, and no less than five in Valleyfield in 2020.