Arsonist found with ‘concerning and diverse’ explosives a known troublemaker, Headingley neighbours say

HEADINGLEY — Residents living near a convicted firebug who Winnipeg police allege was conspiring to detonate an explosive device on the city’s outskirts describe the suspect as a known troublemaker in the neighbourhood.

The Winnipeg Police Service announced a lengthy list of charges against Evan Luke Reimer, 24, on Friday. Insp. Elton Hall said investigators seized a “concerning and diverse” amount of explosives from a residence in Headingley after executing a pair of search warrants the previous day.

The provincial land titles database shows Reimer is the registered owner of a home on Dodds Road in the community, where neighbours shared concerns about his disruptive and potentially dangerous behaviour.

“There’s quite a bit of noise that comes from that residence at all hours,” said one woman, who spoke anonymously.

“When (the police) said there were explosives, we were like, ‘Oh my gosh, that could be a hundred different things’…. We were concerned from what the news said, but at the same time, until you get more details, you don’t really know.”

At a news conference Friday, Hall told reporters Reimer became the target of a criminal investigation after police learned he may have detonated explosives in an open area near Headingley earlier this year.

Hall would not confirm when the incident occurred or what kind of explosives may have been involved, but said it was large enough that nearby residents “could feel it in their houses” and called emergency services to complain. He did not elaborate on the accused’s alleged motivations.

The woman who lives nearby said she was aware of a blast one night in December or January after midnight.

“This was a weird noise because the whole house kind of shook,” she said. “It was enough to feel it, but not enough to wake you if you were a heavy sleeper… I thought it might have been fireworks.”

“When (the police) said there were explosives, we were like, ‘Oh my gosh, that could be a hundred different things’…. We were concerned from what the news said, but at the same time, until you get more details, you don’t really know.”–Neighbour

Officers executed two search warrants Thursday, finding several firearms, ammunition and a large number of explosives, police said.

Hall said there is no specified threat to the public and the investigation is continuing.

Several other neighbours who declined to provide their names said they were not surprised Reimer ran into trouble with the law — describing an apparent penchant for late-night parties, fireworks and burning garbage in a barrel on his property.

One woman described him as a nightmare neighbour, saying she once watched him ignite a makeshift flamethrower outside his home. She said he shot flames from the device, estimating they reached 12 metres in the air toward power lines.

“He’s been a fun neighbour,” the woman sarcastically added, calling Reimer a “very reckless individual.”

Five convictions for arson

Reimer has been in trouble with the law in the past, with five past convictions for arsons to property committed when he was 18 years old in 2019, court records show, as well as a mischief conviction from 2021.

At his June 2021 arson sentencing hearing in front of provincial court Judge Robert Heinrichs, Reimer pleaded guilty to all five counts.

Crown prosecutor Kaley Tschetter said Reimer and two co-accused were arrested by Winnipeg police on Dec. 27, 2019, after receiving a complaint about three boys running through people’s yards with “sledgehammers and bats” near Linmar Way and Royal Mint Drive.

Police dispatched the service’s helicopter and officers in cruisers, who saw smoke at an abandoned home set for demolition on Dawson Road South.

“This was a weird noise because the whole house kind of shook … It was enough to feel it, but not enough to wake you if you were a heavy sleeper… I thought it might have been fireworks.”–Neighbour

The police helicopter tracked down all three, who were arrested.

Reimer, in an interview with police, admitted to breaking into the abandoned house with his friends to explore, court heard. He said he brought a propane tank and was lighting balloons full of the gas on fire while the other two watched, but the tank, which had been leaking, soon ignited.

The group fled and Reimer, after he was picked up by police, said it wasn’t the first time he had set fire to what he thought was an abandoned building.

He admitted to lighting five fires in various outlying areas of Winnipeg in the fall of 2019, typically with one or both of the other two who had been arrested, court heard. Some of the structures, which were typically outbuildings no longer in use, were declared complete losses.

Tschetter said Reimer offered to show the other fire scenes to officers, who then drove him around the city as he pointed them out.

The costs of the damage totalled at least $181,000, court heard.

Destructive behaviour after stepmother’s death

Reimer had withdrawn from school and started hanging around with a different group of friends after his stepmother’s death from cancer, leading him down a destructive path, court was told.

A doctor who examined Reimer six times told the court in a report that he thought the destructive behaviour was a result of acting out after his stepmother’s death, not an underlying mental-health issue.

Reimer told the court that he felt “horrible” about what he did. The Crown and defence agreed he should serve his sentence in the community.

Heinrichs ultimately gave him a conditional discharge with 18 months of probation that included 100 hours of community-service work.

In the new Winnipeg police investigation, Reimer was charged with unlawful possession of explosives, theft under $5,000 and three counts of possessing firearms. A 23-year-old man is facing firearm-related offences and was released on an undertaking.

Court records show Reimer was also charged on Feb. 4 by Winnipeg police with possession of a weapon dangerous to the public peace and mischief and released on a police undertaking, which has since been revoked.

He was due in court on the charges Monday, but the outcome of that appearance was not immediately available.

Anyone with information about the investigation is asked to call Winnipeg police at 204-986-7003, Crime Stoppers anonymously at 204-786-8477 or online at winnipegcrimestoppers.org.

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca