Family plans to return home after London, Ont. police say arson suspect fled country
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Signs supporting Palestinians and the Afzaal family have been placed outside a Wateroak Drive home, where a suspect set fire to the home on June 8 in an alleged hate-motivated attack. London police say Genadi Nacshonov, 55, of London faces charges in the incident but can't be located and investigators believe he has left Canada. (Dale Carruthers/The London Free Press)
Signs supporting Palestinians and the Afzaal family are displayed again outside a northwest London home targeted recently in an alleged hate-motivated arson attack.
And the family who lives there – now staying elsewhere while workers repair the fire-damaged house – will soon return home after London police told them the man accused of setting it ablaze has fled the country, a close family friend says.
London police obtained a Canada-wide arrest warrant for Genadi Nacshonov, 55, of London on charges stemming from a June 8 fire at a house on Wateroak Drive, where pro-Palestinian signs had also been stolen and damaged on multiple occasions.
Nacshonov is charged with arson with disregard for life, mischief under $5,000, uttering threats to damage property, harassment, wearing a disguise with intent, theft under $5,000 and trespassing at night. But investigators believe Nacshonov is no longer in Canada, police said.
“The family feels safer now because he’s left the country,” a friend of the displaced family said of Nacshonov. “They know he’s not going to come back.”
The fear of being targeted again had deterred the family from considering a return to their home, said the friend, who asked not to be identified.
A crew of workers remained this week at the two-storey house, where smoke and water caused extensive damage, the friend said, adding the total will be significantly higher than the initial $30,000 estimate provided by police.
“It’s unlivable,” he said of the current state of the house. “They’re not going to come back until it’s done.”
London police haven’t said where they believe Nacshonov has fled or how they know he’s no longer in Canada.
Det.-Insp. Alex Krygsman previously said police are working with “various authorities” to determine Nacshonov’s whereabouts and bring him back to face the charges.
One way police can track down international fugitives is through an Interpol red notice, a global request to law enforcement agencies worldwide to locate a person pending extradition. Countries can request Interpol publish portions of these alerts on its website in cases when the public’s help is needed locating a fugitive or they pose a threat to public safety.
In Canada, the RCMP is responsible for requesting a red notice. The alerts aren’t international arrest warrants and it’s up to the each member country to decide whether to arrest someone.
Asked whether the Mounties have requested a red notice for Nacshonov, an RCMP spokesperson sent a link to the Interpol website.
But Nacshonov doesn’t appear on the red notice section.
“If a red notice is published, it is sent to all member countries and an extract may be published on the website. However . . . only a small fraction of red notices are made public, around 10 per cent,” Interpol spokesperson Rachael Billington said in an email.
