Five months after a three-alarm blaze tore through a south Burnaby pub, Burnaby RCMP have released surveillance footage of a man lurking around the eatery right before the place went up in flames.
The Marine Pub and Brewhouse at 5820 Marine Dr. was completely destroyed by a fire that started around 2:30 a.m. on Jan. 10. The fire was deemed suspicious by firefighters and police quickly took over the investigation.
On the day following the fire, Marine Pub owner Pal Singh told the NOW there was surveillance footage allegedly showing an unknown man walking around the pub's patio and setting fire to two patio chairs before the alarm was tripped at 2:28 a.m.
Unfortunately, there hadn’t been much progress in the case, until now.
“The video was smoke-damaged when the officers seized it and so, fortunately, our forensic video analysis unit was able to extract the images,” Cpl. Daniela Panesar, spokesperson for the Burnaby RCMP, told the NOW.
The video, which is about two minutes long, shows a man wearing light-coloured pants and a dark jacket skulking around the back of the pub. He lifts the lid to a garbage bin and then walks out of view. In the next frame, the same man can be seen climbing through the open patio window and walking into the pub. Meanwhile a fire can be seen burning below the patio deck.
Four minutes later, at 2:31 a.m. according to the video time stamp, flames can be seen crawling up the patio lattice and onto the deck. Moments later the man comes back out on to the patio grabs a couple patio chairs and places them on to the flames.
According to police, the suspect was seen in other video footage driving into the parking lot in a newer model light-coloured car. Investigators are now looking for any information that could lead them to the identity of the man in the video.
“This is the individual that we want to speak to because he was seen at the pub at about … 2:25 a.m., so just before the fire, so we’re very interested in identifying the man,” Panesar said. “Doesn’t matter how small or insignificant it seems, they can give the Burnaby RCMP a call or Crime Stoppers.”
The suspect is described as a man with dark features, between 30 to 35 years old with a medium build and dark hair. He was wearing a dark jacket, white T-shirt, white runners and light-coloured pants.
Anyone with information is asked to call Burnaby RCMP 604-294-7922 OR Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
