One suspect is in custody in connection with a string of small fires near Ryerson University on Wednesday morning.
Police initially reported that the first fire appeared to be set on the steps of Trinity Church near the Eaton Centre shortly before 5 a.m. However, officers later said they responded to the Mutual and Gould streets area and discovered a garbage can on fire at 4 a.m. About 20 minutes later, officers responded to a similar situation in a laneway near Yonge and Gerrard Streets.
Over the course of about an hour, five other small fires were then set on Dalhousie Street, O'Keefe Lane, and Gerrard Street.
“There were four calls for a garbage can (and) recycling bins, the other was for a mattress and one was for a church where the doors were damaged,” Toronto Police Const. Caroline De Kloet said.
Inspectors tell CTV News Toronto that the damage to the church is pegged at approximately $30,000.
Police say with the assistance of security video, a suspect was apprehended on Pembroke Street, about a block from where the last fire was set.
A staff sergeant with 52 Division said no injuries were reported following the fires.
Sherman Hesselgrave, a priest at Trinity Church, said he learned about the fire outside the 170-year-old building early this morning.
"I was concerned because 40 years ago… there was another arson and the church nearly burnt down," he said.
"I was dreading that it was something serious like that but luckily it was just the west doors."
The suspect, identified by police as 32 -year-old Jordan Cuthbert, has been charged with six counts of arson, five counts of mischief under $5000 and one count of mischief over $5000.
