VANCOUVER -The South Asian man charged with an arson incident at Vancouver’s Langara College has been ordered to undergo a mental health assessment before a bail hearing could be held.
Nasradin Abdusamad Ali has been accused of detonating “improvised incendiary devices” on the Langara College campus last week.
Ali is charged with arson and possession of incendiary material in connection with the fires sparked at Langara on April 1, which forced a campus-wide evacuation and another full day of cancelled classes.
The suspect was arrested in Surrey hours after the incident, and has remained in custody ever since.
Police said two devices went off on campus and a third was found intact during a sweep of the property. Fortunately, no one was injured.
The fires did do significant damage to Langara’s T building, which is expected to remain at least partially closed until the summer. Administrators said they were forced to relocate classes, exams and events in light of the incident.
None of the allegations against Ali have been proven in court.
Crown counsel also approved additional charges against Ali. The new charges stem from alleged incidents in the weeks leading up to the fires on April 1.
On March 7, Ali allegedly got into a physical altercation with another student on the Langara College campus. This assault was not reported to the VPD until after the April 1 incident. The VPD investigation led to Crown counsel approving a charge of assault against Ali.
Later in the month on March 26, it’s alleged that Ali robbed another Langara student near a bus stop on East 53rd Avenue and Fleming Street. This robbery was reported to the VPD on the day of the incident and detectives have since been able to collect enough evidence for Crown to lay a robbery charged against Ali.
Ali remains in custody.
