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Man arrested in connection with PISE fire makes first court appearance

Aaron Vince Raschke is known to Greater Victoria police
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A Saanich police officer stands outside the Pacific Institute for Sport Excellence (PISE) near the Interurban Campus of Camosun College following a series of Sunday morning fires that damaged the facility as well as several college buildings. (Wolf Depner/News staff)

Aaron Vince Raschke, the 30-year-old Victoria man arrested in connection with several fires Sunday in Saanich, will make his next court appearance in early January 2019, following a court appearance Tuesday morning.

Authorities charged Raschke with five counts of arson damaging property, three counts of break and enter with intent to commit offence, one count of theft under $5,000, and one count of mischief under $5,000.

Raschke appeared Tuesday morning in Victoria Law Courts and is scheduled to appear again Jan. 7, 2019.

RELATED: UPDATE: Man arrested by Saanich Police following Camosun College fires remains in custody

The fires happened Sunday morning in several locations on or near the Interurban campus of Camosun College, including the Pacific Institute for Sport Excellence (PISE), which remained closed Tuesday. The Centre for Trade Education and Innovation (CTEI) and the Centre for Business & Access (CBA) also remained closed Tuesday.

Raschke is not an unfamiliar figure for local police. In 2012, a judge found him guilty of one count of possessing stolen property under $5,000. He ended up serving a suspended sentence with eights month probation for the crime committed in the City of Victoria.

The Saanich News has reached out to PISE and Camosun College for comment on this story and will update accordingly.


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wolfgang.depner@saanichnews.com



Wolf Depner

About the Author: Wolf Depner

I joined the national team with Black Press Media in 2023 from the Peninsula News Review, where I had reported on Vancouver Island's Saanich Peninsula since 2019.
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