Man charged after two SUVs ‘intentionally’ set on fire in SE Calgary
Posted Jan 14, 2025 3:42 pm.
Last Updated Jan 14, 2025 7:14 pm.
A man is facing charges after allegedly setting two vehicles on fire in southeast Calgary on Monday morning.
Calgary police say officers were called to Legacy Main Street SE in the community of Legacy around 8:50 a.m. for reports of a parked SUV on fire.
It is alleged a man set a 2024 Ford Escape on fire on a residential street before leaving the area in a white Ford Focus.
Minutes later at around 9 a.m., officers were called to another residential address on Walgrove Way SE in the community of Walden for a similar incident. Police allege someone driving a white Ford Focus set fire to a 2010 Volkswagen Tiguan.
A front door camera sent to CityNews appears to show the parked Tiguan burning on the street after it was ignited.
Fire crews were able to quickly put out the fires in both cases. No injuries were reported.
“By the time I got home the car was towed,” says Walden resident, and owner of the Tiguan, Jennifer Syme. “This is our life right now.”
Syme says kids got picked up for school on the same street just minutes before the fire was set.
“There’s kids everywhere,” she says. “This is a very family-forward neighbourhood.”
Calgary police arson investigators were able to determine the fires were started with an accelerant and concluded the two incidents were connected. Police also learned the Ford Focus the suspect was driving was previously reported stolen.
Later the same day at around 3:15 p.m., officers saw the suspect vehicle driving through Legacy at high speeds. Police tracked the vehicle to 8 Avenue SE in Inglewood where the driver got out and was arrested without incident.
“These fires were intentionally set in busy communities in our city, causing irreversible damage to vehicles and putting the public at risk,” says CPS Staff Sgt. Kurt Jacobs in a statement.
Tyson Lee Bonnick, 31, of Calgary is facing four charges including two counts of arson, one count of possessing stolen property under $5,000, and one count of possession of a controlled substance.
He is expected to appear in a Calgary courtroom on Thursday.
Anyone with further information is urged to call police at 403-266-1234.