Police identify commissioned arson in Lauttasaari bike shop fire

Police believe a fire at a bicycle shop in Helsinki’s Lauttasaari district was deliberately started on commission, Yle reports. The preliminary investigation has been completed and the case will now proceed to prosecutors for consideration of charges.

The shop, located on the ground floor of an apartment building on Pajalahdentie, was set on fire on 3 March, according to Helsinki Police. The blaze was extensive, causing significant fire and smoke damage to the apartments in the building.

The criminal classification is aggravated criminal mischief. Ten people have been suspected in connection with the case, and the files concerning eight of them will now be sent for consideration of charges. Two suspects are wanted but have not yet been located by police.

Police say the fire was started by two men who were 17 at the time. One is an Iraqi national and the other is a Finnish national. Both live in Finland.

Three people living abroad are suspected of having been behind the perpetrators. One of them, an Iraqi national, was arrested in the United Kingdom and extradited to Finland in June. He remains in custody.

The other suspects are believed to have prepared for the arson by taking various actions to enable the crime. A firearm was confiscated from one person during an arrest, and that individual is also suspected of aggravated firearms offence.

Police said they have not been able to confirm or rule out publicly discussed theories about the motive during the preliminary investigation.

“This case is an example of the Crime as a Service phenomenon, in which criminal actors use other people to carry out a criminal act,” said Kimmo Sainio, a detective chief inspector with Helsinki Police.

According to Sainio, the aim is to avoid criminal liability and exploit, among others, people in vulnerable positions as perpetrators of crimes.