Two men face charges after Southside arson incident

Crown counsel has approved charges recommended by Revelstoke RCMP against two Revelstoke men following an early morning arson incident in Revelstoke’s Southside neighbourhood on Aug. 6.

RCMP: Arrests after Molotov cocktails thrown at Revelstoke home in early morning arson attack

Police allege the two men threw Molotov cocktail style firebombs at a trailer in the Willow Inn trailer park in the 1100 block of Fourth Street East at around 3 a.m. Revelstoke RCMP say they arrested the men when they came to the scene about an hour after the incident.

The next morning, broken windows and char stains from fire were visible on the trailer, which is located next to a busy roadway. The home had been vandalized by graffiti in the past. It had been cleaned off but the remains are still visible in some places.

Court documents show the two who were arrested and are now before the court in Kelowna are Christopher Lee Fusick, born in 1986; and Charles Andrew Poland, born in 1984.

The two men each face the same four charges. They are: arson in relation to an inhabited property (Criminal Code of Canada (CCC) 433(a)); arson damaging property (CCC 434); mischief (CCC 430); and disguising face with intent to commit an offence (CCC 351(2)).

None of the allegations have been proven in court.

The pair were both scheduled to appear before a judge at an Aug. 6, 7 p.m. court appearance at the Kelowna Law Courts. It’s unclear if that was a video appearance.

Court documents provide only basic details. They show the result of that appearance was an adjournment to a future date. The two men are both scheduled for another appearance on August 7 at 2 p.m. The records indicate the two men remain in custody pending that appearance.

Analysis

The arson incident appears to stem from some kind of ongoing, sprawling interpersonal dispute involving an extended group of people known to each other. After police released a statement on the incident on the morning of August 6, community members took to social media to offer their comments. Among them were people with personal connections to those involved in the dispute, seeking to spin the incident in their favour. The two-way commentary included unproven allegations of wrongdoing and criminal behaviour, and the intent seems to be to damage the reputation of adversaries in this dispute. In this incident and in life, check your information source and think critically about the motivations of those providing it. Just because someone wrote something on Facebook doesn’t mean it’s true. Many of the facts are still missing and some may come out during court proceedings — of which there may or may not be media coverage. Certainly, an early-morning arson in Revelstoke is newsworthy and a big concern, but for now, police have said they believe the incident is targeted and don’t believe the public is at risk. In a last follow up email with RCMP Southeast District Communications Services, I asked about RCMP concerns about social media hubbub leading to further victimization of parties involved. “RCMP strongly discourages anyone from taking matters into their own hands,” wrote Cpl. Jesse O’Donaghey.