P.E.I. man pleads guilty over string of cottage fires along North Shore
A 19-year-old Prince Edward Island man will be sentenced in September for breaking into and setting fire to three cottages in northern Queens County late last year.
Dakota Ellis of Donaldston pleaded guilty Friday to a number of charges related to arson as well as breaking and entering to commit an indictable offence.
The charges relate to incidents at three cottages in the Donaldston, Stanhope and Scotchfort areas over the course of a weekend in November 2023. Another home and a lifeguard hut at P.E.I. National Park were also damaged.
According to a portion of the agreed statement of facts read out in the Charlottetown courtroom, a 911 call came in at around 10:25 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 24, about blazes at two seasonal cottages in the Donaldston area. Both buildings were destroyed.
Dakota Ellis arrives at the courthouse with his lawyer Brandon Hubley on Friday. (Laura Meader/CBC)
Crown attorney John Diamond told the court that Ellis broke into both cottages and used some type of fuel to start the fires.
The following evening, another cottage in Stanhope was destroyed by fire.
Diamond said Ellis broke in and again used an accelerant to start the blaze.
This cottage was one of two in the Donaldston area that were destroyed by fire on the evening of Nov. 24, 2023. (Nicola MacLeod/CBC)
That same evening, a homeowner on Afton Road in Scotchfort reported an odour of diesel and the presence of soot outside their house. There was no serious damage to the property.
On Sunday, Nov. 26, at around 10:39 p.m., a lifeguard station in the Stanhope Beach area was vandalized, and authorities found the presence of soot and an accelerant at the scene.
Ellis and a youth who can't be named because of the Youth Criminal Justice Act were eventually arrested by P.E.I. RCMP.
Ellis later told police he didn't like a young person who lived in one of the houses he targeted.
Standing up in court Friday, Ellis told the judge that he understood he was pleading guilty to all of the offences.
The Crown has ordered a pre-sentence report, which will include victim impact statements.
Ellis is not being held in custody, but he is wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet and has a curfew.
He will be back in court Sept. 4 for sentencing.
