Footage from a homeowner’s security camera shows a person of interest near the scene of an early-morning arson spree in an upscale Toronto neighbourhood.

Investigators released the video Wednesday in an attempt to identify the male and speak to him about the deliberately-set fires in Bennington Heights, near Bayview and Moore avenues.

The footage from Friday shows the male walking past a home as he holds a cup or bottle in his left hand. He walks behind a parked BMW and then changes direction. The male has a distinct walk and he was wearing a dark knapsack, pants, shirt and ball cap, Toronto police said.

He was filmed by a surveillance camera that overlooks a driveway where the BMW was parked.

The timestamp on the video is 2:43 a.m.

“The video has been released in the hopes that somebody in the public might recognize this party,” Det. Sgt. Daniel Sabadics told reporters Wednesday afternoon. “It is someone with purpose but also dynamic, and energetic, so to me I am categorizing it as a younger person or maybe it is an older person with a lot of energy and purpose. It is unique (the walk) and hopefully someone will recognize who it might be because a lot of us can recognize different gaits and walks with people we might now.”

A total of 12 vehicles and a house were torched, causing more than $100,000 in damage.

Police say the suspect targeted unlocked vehicles that contained loose paper or clothing that could be set ablaze and did not use an accelerant.

In response to the arson spree, detectives are urging people to keep their vehicle doors locked, and alert police to any suspicious fires.

“From what I understand this is urge-oriented and it doesn’t have to have a specific MO, so even if it is just a grass or a brush fire it might be our person,” Sabadics told reporters.

Possible link to convenience store robbery

Around the same time as the vehicle fires, police were called for a robbery at a nearby convenience store.

Though detectives have not yet connected that robbery with the fires, they say they can’t rule it out.

The suspect, described by witnesses as a white man in his 40s with grey hair and dark clothing, allegedly stole lottery tickets and cigarettes before running westbound on Moore Street.

“We don’t know if it is a red herring or not at this point,” Sabadics told reporters Wednesday. “Just due to the geographic location, the timeframe and the similarity in the description of a suspect we are still looking at it as a viable option.”

Anyone with information about the person of interest or the fires is asked to call police at 416-808-5300 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477).

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