‘Partially-dressed man' arrested on suspicion of arson and vehicle theft in Belfast
An armed response team attended the incident along with local officers as they believed the suspect was a threat to the public.
Reports of a man matching a similar description attempting to break into a Loopland Park property were received a short time later.
A 30-year-old man was subsequently arrested nearby.
PSNI Detective Sergeant McVeagh said: "Our enquiries established that the back door of a residential property in Euston Street had been kicked in before petrol was poured on the door and floor and set alight.
"Thankfully, no-one was inside the home at the time. Damage was caused but our colleagues at Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service extinguished the blaze."
Police believe the suspect was involved in the theft of a grey Peugeot 208 stolen at around 9.40pm on July 27 from a carpark on the Newtownards Road.
"On Monday morning, 28th July, the same vehicle was seen being driven dangerously in the Hopewell Avenue area of the city by officers on patrol,' Detective Sergeant McVeagh continued.
'The vehicle failed to stop for officers when signalled to do so, and was then driven deliberately at a police vehicle.
"The police vehicle was damaged and three officers sustained minor injuries while the suspect vehicle made off from the scene.
"The man was arrested on suspicion of a number of offences including arson with intent to endanger life, taking and driving away a motor vehicle, criminal damage and assault on police. He has since been released on bail while our enquiries continue.
"The consequences of any of these actions could have been much more serious. We want to appeal to anyone with information, including CCTV dashcam or other relevant footage, to contact us on 101."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Belfast Telegraph
12 hours ago
- Belfast Telegraph
Ballymena riots: PSNI release fresh images of suspect in relation to race disorder
Images of another suspect in connection with disorder in Ballymena in June have been released by the PSNI. A number of previous images of those involved in the disorder on June 9 have been released over recent weeks and a number of arrests have been made. Two new images of another suspect were released on Friday and police said they are seeking to speak with the individual in the photographs in connection with the ongoing investigation. A PSNI spokesperson said: 'We are asking this individual to come forward to police, or anyone who can assist in identifying them. News Catch Up - Friday 1st August 'If you have any information or wish to submit photos and footage, including CCTV, mobile phone or dash-cam footage, this can be done through the Major Incident Public Portal at:
Daily Mirror
18 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Twist in search for missing Brit in France as 'multiple flights booked in his name'
Robert Kincaid, a 38-year-old from Belfast, was due to travel home via Charles de Gaulle Airport after flying from Benin, but failed to board his connecting flight The brother of a man who vanished in Paris says there's another twist in his disappearance after cops found multiple flight bookings in his name. Robert Kincaid, 38, from Belfast, was due to fly home from Benin via Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, but police are saying he never transited through the French city, according to his brother Louis. After flying to the French capital on Wednesday, Louis met officials from the British embassy and French police. He says that when he arrived - French cops had no record of his missing persons report despite the PSNI relaying it to Interpol. It comes after two best friends celebrating birthday were killed in explosion after lighting candle. 'When we arrived at the police station, they had no record of Robert's disappearance being reported to them, so we filed a missing persons report there and then. They kept asking us if we were sure that he was in Paris and how we knew that he was in Charles de Gaulle,' Louis told Belfast Live. According to Louis, police in Paris initially insisted Robert had never arrived in France. They claimed he had not boarded the flight from Cotonou, Benin, and had not used his passport. 'The police loaded up a laptop and said that he never got on the plane from Benin and said that he never presented his passport. They were adamant that he was not in Paris and told us that he had been booked on a flight from Benin to Paris last night, which was due to arrive this morning,' he said. It has since transpired that Robert had initially been due to fly home from Benin on July 30 but had left early for reasons unknown to the family. Louis went to the airport this morning with a member of Embassy staff, hoping to see his brother disembark. Robert did not appear. They were later told that although Robert had been booked onto that flight and another one scheduled for the following day, both bookings had been cancelled. However, the situation took a further turn when Foreign Office officials confirmed Robert had indeed boarded the original flight on July 17. His name appeared on the flight log, and his passport had been scanned. 'They then came back and said that he had boarded the flight on the 17th and that he was on the flight log for that date and that he definitely made it to Paris,' Louis said. French police have now retrieved the details of whoever booked the recent flights in Robert's name. Meanwhile, the PSNI has accessed Robert's bank accounts and are attempting to trace any card transactions he may have made. 'We were in the police station for a good couple of hours, and they were very thorough, but they didn't seem to want to check through any CCTV. They are now investigating, and now we have it confirmed that he was on that flight on 17th July. The French police are now liaising with the PSNI, and they are attempting to trace the location of his last phone call,' Louis added.
Reuters
a day ago
- Reuters
Russian strikes kill 16 people in Kyiv, including two children
KYIV, July 31 (Reuters) - Russia launched waves of missiles and drones on Kyiv before dawn on Thursday, killing 16 people including two children, and wounding well over 100 others, officials in the Ukrainian capital said. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, speaking earlier in his nightly video address, put the death toll at 14 and said rescue operations were continuing into the evening. The Interior Ministry said more than 1,200 police and rescuers were tackling the aftermath. Ukraine's national rescue service said the toll rose to 16 after another body had been retrieved from underneath rubble. Zelenskiy said dozens remained in hospital. The rescue service said 16 of the injured were children, the largest number of children hurt in a single attack on the city since Russia started its full-scale invasion almost 3-1/2 years ago. In an earlier post on Telegram, the president said Russia had launched more than 300 drones and eight missiles. "Today the world has once again seen Russia's response to our desire for peace ... Therefore, peace without strength is impossible." City authorities announced a day of mourning to be held on Friday. Russia's Defence Ministry said it targeted and hit Ukrainian military airfields and ammunition depots as well as businesses linked to what it called Kyiv's military-industrial complex. Explosions rocked Kyiv from about midnight onward and blazes lit up the night sky. Yurii Kravchuk, 62, stood wrapped in a blanket next to a damaged building with a bandage around his head. He had heard the missile alert but did not get to a shelter in time, he told Reuters. "I started waking up my wife and then there was an explosion. My daughter ended up in the hospital," he said. Russia, which denies targeting civilians, has stepped up air strikes in recent months on Ukrainian towns and cities far from the front lines of the war. Thousands of civilians, the vast majority of them Ukrainian, have been killed since Moscow invaded in 2022. Kyiv and Moscow have held three rounds of talks in Istanbul this year that yielded exchanges of prisoners and bodies, but no breakthrough to defuse the conflict. At one location in Kyiv, rescuers spent more than three hours reaching a man trapped in rubble by cutting through the wall of a neighbouring apartment, the Interior Ministry said. The man talked to the emergency services during the operation and was pulled out alive, it added. A five-month-old baby was among the wounded, with five children hospitalized, the head of Kyiv's military administration, Tymur Tkachenko, said on national television. Schools and hospitals were among the buildings damaged across 27 locations in the capital, officials said. "The attack was extremely insidious and deliberately calculated to overload the air defence system," Zelenskiy wrote on X. He posted a video of burning ruins, saying people were still trapped under the rubble of one partially-ruined residential building as of the morning. U.S. President Donald Trump, speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, sharply criticized Russia's "disgusting" behavior against Ukraine and said he planned to impose sanctions on Moscow if no agreement could be reached. Trump said he was not sure whether sanctions would deter Russia. He has given Russian President Vladimir Putin until August 8 to make a deal or else he will respond with economic pressure. Trump said U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff would travel to Russia after his current trip to Israel. A senior U.S. diplomat, John Kelly, told the United Nations Security Council that Trump had made clear that he wants a deal to end the war by August 8. On Tuesday, Trump said Washington will start imposing tariffs and other measures on Russia if Moscow shows no progress toward ending the conflict. "This is Putin's response to Trump's deadlines," Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said. "The world must respond with a tribunal and maximum pressure." The air force reported five direct missile hits and 21 drone hits in 12 locations. Ukrainian air defence units downed 288 drones and three cruise missiles, the air force added.
