SQ offers reward for information about Valleyfield restaurant fires

The Sûreté du Québec is offering a reward for information in their efforts to find the people behind four arson fires set in restaurants in Valleyfield, 60 kilometres west of Montreal, over a six-month period.

The SQ issued a release on Friday offering $5,000 to “anyone with information leading to the arrest and conviction of suspects responsible for a series of arsons.” The offer will expire on Nov. 30.

The fires were set on Dec. 14 and June 8.

“The investigation has demonstrated that (before the crimes were committed) at least two suspects were seen close to the establishments and used incendiary objects to set fire to the (restaurants),” the SQ stated.

The first two fires were set within minutes of each other on Dec. 14. Québec Pizzeria, on Hébert Blvd., was destroyed by fire that night and Pizza Fritz, on Maden St., was heavily damaged.

The other two fires were also set within minutes of each other, in the early hours of June 8. Someone

smashed the window of Restaurant Kapetan on Victoria St. and tossed a Molotov cocktail inside. The restaurant’s sprinkler system extinguished the fire before it could spread. Around the same time, someone set fire to Québec Pizzeria again, at its new location on Champlain St. The pizzeria had announced on Facebook that it was reopening less than two weeks before.

According to the Quebec business registry, the three restaurants are owned by different people. The SQ did not make reference in the release to a possible motive behind the fires.

Late last month, the SQ arrested a man in connection with another arson fire that was set inside a building on Ste-cécile St. in Valleyfield

just before supper hour on June 23. The fire spread to Pizza Chez Rose on du Marché St.

The SQ’S major crimes division set up a command post the following day in the parking lot of Valleyfield’s city hall and invited anyone with information about the blaze to talk to investigators.

Their efforts led to the arrest of Max Lefebvre, a 44-year-old Valleyfield resident. He is detained and faces two charges related to the June 23 fire. However, according to the release issued by the SQ, the investigation has demonstrated that Lefebvre is not connected to the other fires.

Anyone with information about the fires can contact the Sûreté du Québec at 1-800-659-4264.