Kitchener dealership facing $250K in damages following arson

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Kitchener dealership facing $250K in damages following arson

WATCH: Suspect lights vehicles on fire at a Kitchener dealership

High-end vehicles set ablaze in Kitchener

A Kitchener, Ont., car dealership is dealing with the aftermath of a fire that damaged six vehicles early Saturday morning.

“My cell phone was ringing so I woke up,” said Adnan Khan, co-owner of Xtreme Motors Ltd. “One of my employees called us and he said, ‘Somebody put the dealership on fire and the cars are burning.’”

Security video from Xtreme Motors Ltd. showed a person dressed in black carrying a blue jerrycan and pouring liquid on and around vehicles at approximately 3:50 a.m. Moments later, the suspect ignited the fuel, setting six vehicles — and nearly themselves — on fire.

“It was a big shocking thing for us,” said Khan. “He was fully wearing black clothes but he was covered, you cannot see his face and he was even wearing gloves. He had this big jerry can in his hand and he came directly in front of our dealership and he targeted the most expensive cars.”

A Mercedes, a Mustang and a Maserati were among the cars destroyed. Damage is estimated at $250,000, according to Khan.

“We were finally coming back to our feet,” said Khan. “You’re working hard and you don’t want these kinds of things to happen.”

Khan said he believes at least two suspects were involved, with one acting as a getaway driver in a light blue Toyota RAV4, which was captured on surveillance video.

Khan said the footage also showed the same vehicle driving by the business one hour before the incident.

“It came the first time at 2:30 a.m. ... then they came back at 3:45 a.m., then they circled around and came at 3:48 a.m.”

The business has offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible.

Waterloo Regional Police confirmed they are investigating a vehicle arson in the area of Weber Street West and Louisa Street. No injuries were reported.

“We are still gathering information and we are still reviewing footage,” said Const. Chris Iden. “At this time, there is a vehicle of interest that we are looking to get more information on as well as the individual. We are looking to see if there may be more individuals than just one. So again, this is information that we’re still sorting through his at this time.”

The dealership said this is the second time it has been the target of arson — the first incident happened in 2013, when they faced $300,000 in damages.

“The previous one took place approximately over 12 years ago,” said Iden. “We will still look into that investigation to see if maybe there’s any type of potential and that’s all part of what the investigators are doing at this time.”

The dealership remained open Saturday, but staff said they are considering new safety and security measures, including whether to continue displaying vehicles outside.

“It happened to us today, tomorrow it could happen to another [dealership],” said Khan. “I don’t want anybody to get hurt because we all work really hard to help our community, to make our lives better and employees too. It affects so many families.”