Man arrested and charged with arson

Charges have been approved against a man arrested by police following a string of early morning fires in Vernon on Thursday.

On Thursday, July 13th, 2023 around 8:30 a.m., police received a report several fires had been lit outside of businesses in the 3400-block of 30th Avenue in Vernon. Around 4:45 a.m., employees at one of the locations were arriving for work when they found a pile of smouldering debris along the side of the building. After extinguishing the fire, they noticed another small fire across the street outside of another business which they also put out.

As part of the investigation, video surveillance was collected from the area which captured the suspect lighting fires at three separate locations in quick succession. A detailed review of that footage by investigators led to the suspect being identified and arrested later that day.

"This type of reckless behaviour endangers and puts our entire community at risk," states Constable Chris Terleski, Media Relations Officer for the Vernon North Okanagan RCMP. "Thankfully, no serious damage resulted, however, we are very aware the outcome of this situation could have been much different, even disastrous."

A Vernon man, 34-year old Roman Roy Ooley, has been charged with three counts of arson. Mr. Ooley has been remanded in custody until his next court appearance.