Man, 59, accused of setting incendiary device outside Winnipeg bathhouse

Man, 59, accused of setting incendiary device outside Winnipeg bathhouse

Erik Olson knew business owners but extortion not believed to be motive, police say

A man is charged with placing an incendiary device earlier this month outside a Winnipeg bathhouse where two men were killed in a fire in 2009.

Someone placed the device along a rear exterior wall of AQ Sauna — originally known as Aquarius — on Notre Dame Avenue around 2:30 a.m. on Sept. 11, the Winnipeg Police Service said in a news release Thursday.

A bystander in the area saw a fire and extinguished it before it could spread and cause more damage, the release said.

Police said the man who left the device fled in a vehicle before they were notified about the incident.

Several patrons were inside the business at the time, but no injuries were reported, the release said.

Tactical and bomb units were sent there, and the item — which police described as an improvised incendiary device — was disposed of at another location.

Erik Lymen Olson, 59, was arrested on Sept. 12 and has been detained in police custody.

He is charged with placing or throwing an incendiary device, making or possessing an explosive substance to endanger life or cause serious damage to property, and possession of incendiary material, police say.

A laptop computer, incendiary chemicals and a pickup truck believed to have been used in the alleged crimes were seized during a search of Olson's home and business, police said.

Investigators believe the man knew the sauna's owners through the business community, but the incident is not believed to be related to extortion, the release said.

Olson has appeared in bail court three times since Sept. 17, court records show.

Two men — Steven Yablonski, 23, of Winnipeg and Robert Clark, 62, of Saskatchewan — died of smoke inhalation after a fire in Aquarius on the morning of Oct. 11, 2009. After a trial, a man was found not guilty of two counts of manslaughter in 2015.

Police asked anyone with information about this month's incident to call them at 204-986-6219, or send an anonymous tip to Crime Stoppers at 204-786-8477 (TIPS) or online.