A 27-year-old man at the centre of a Monday bomb-scare incident in Scarborough has had his charges dropped by the Crown but remains in Police custody for assessment under the Mental Health Act.
Police had charged Shaun Morris, a Centennial College student, with possession of an explosive device, mischief and failure to comply with probation; those criminal charges were dropped on Tuesday.
Police reported that Morris called them when he learned his van had been towed from a private lot; he was concerned that his vehicle, which contained a ‘homemade fuel source,’ could prove dangerous.
Police found the cube van in the parking lot of Williams Towing Service, located in the Markham Road and Finch Avenue East area, parked next to a propane tank.
Fearing the potential of a blast rivalling last summer’s Sunrise Propane explosion, police evacuated an area of 1.6 kilometers and shut down numerous roads leading to the area.
Police media relations officer, Constable Wendy Drummond, later told reporters that the potential of another Sunrise explosion definitely influenced the response.
The alert was called off during the late evening rush hour after police managed to dismantle the device in the van.
Const. Drummond said “thousands” of people had to be evacuated from close to 50 surrounding buildings.
Police describe the device in Morris’ van as a piece of PVC pipe wired with a bottle containing a clear substance. They will release more details about the device once they have examined it.