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“We are relieved that the Ottawa Police Arson Unit has made an arrest and laid charges in connection with the explosion at our Avalon Vista community,” Brent Strachan, president of Minto Communities Canada, said in an emailed statement. “We are grateful to the authorities for their steadfast support throughout this investigation, and our thoughts continue to be with those who were injured. Our focus remains on the construction of our community so residents can move into their new homes as soon as possible.”

According to court records and media reports, a man of the same age and name has amassed a long record of charges and convictions back to at least 2007. Many involved break-ins and thefts from newly completed homes or homes under construction.

In 2019, a 32-year-old named Kody Crosby was charged with multiple counts of break and enter, possession of burglary tools, breaching his recognizance and breaching probation in connection with break-ins at construction sites in the Ottawa area over several months in the fall of that year.

He was also convicted of uttering threats against a man and sentenced to 12 months’ probation. At the time, Crosby gave his address as the Salvation Army Mission on George Street.

In 2014, a 26-year-old named Kody Crosby was charged by Ottawa police in connection with break-ins at 18 businesses and residences along Bank Street, most of them new homes under construction. Crosby was alleged to have stolen cars from dealerships that he then drove to the sites of break-ins. Police said he stole items such as appliances and tools.

In 2007, a Kody Crosby, then 20, pleaded guilty for his role as a getaway driver in a violent home invasion in Kemptville. Five masked men had burst into a home looking for marijuana and $238,000 in cash they expected to find. They tied up and threatened the homeowner and his girlfriend. But the gang had the wrong house, so they stole what they could and left.

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