A major police operation took place for several hours on Friday at the Montreal detention facility, commonly called Bordeaux prison, when one inmate held another against their will in a cell. There were no injuries.
According to our information, it was a hostage-taking involving detainee Isaac Moffat-Swasson. The 33-year-old man has a serious criminal past. He is notably before the courts for the ransacking of part of the New Carlisle prison, in Gaspésie, in 2019. He has since been transferred to Montreal for reasons of increased security, according to an article in the daily The sun.
Originally from Listuguj, in Gaspésie, Isaac Moffat-Swasson also faces justice for other offenses, including death threats, forcible confinement, serious assault, armed assault and robbery. In the New Carlisle jail case, he faces charges of intimidation, breach of jail and mischief worth $5,000. He was due to return to court in these two cases on October 13.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY RCMP
Isaac Moffat-Swasson in 2017
This time, Moffat-Swasson forcibly held another prisoner in a cell in the Montreal Detention Facility on Friday. Around 3 p.m., Sûreté du Québec agents were called to intervene. Nearly four hours later, around 6:50 p.m., Isaac Moffat-Swasson finally surrendered.
No one was injured in the affair, specifies Stéphane Tremblay, spokesperson for the Sûreté du Québec.
The inmate will appear during the weekend and will possibly face new charges of kidnapping and threats, adds Mr. Tremblay.
Not a first
In 2019, in New Carlisle, the alleged assault by Isaac Moffat-Swasson caused quite a commotion. Furniture was damaged, as well as electronic devices. Water damage due to broken plumbing parts caused significant damage to the prison, reported The sun. Sixteen cells had been damaged and closed.
Cayenne pepper had been used to subdue the inmate. Since the ventilation system of the prison establishment was connected to that of the New Carlisle courthouse and the Sûreté du Québec station, the entire building had to be evacuated. Inmates at New Carlisle had been transferred to other facilities on a temporary basis.
In 2017, Isaac Moffat-Swasson was the subject of a Canada-wide arrest warrant by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. He was “illegally at large” because he had not returned to the federal penitentiary located in Renous, New Brunswick, after a leave. He was finally arrested near Campbellton, New Brunswick.
gang leader
In 2013, at the age of 23, Moffat-Swasson was sentenced to four and a half years in prison in a federal penitentiary for having been the instigator and main participant in the attack on Marcel Lanteigne, for a high-profile story. hidden speakers.
“During the altercation, we hit [à Marcel Lanteigne] about ten hammer blows to the head, slashed his knuckles with a knife, cut several parts of his body with a broken beer bottle, smashed a window with his head and delivered several blows with a fist and foot”, we can read in a report of New Acadia.
At that time, Isaac Moffat-Swasson was considered the leader of the Res Nation Crisp street gang in the Mi’kmaq community of Listuguj, according to New Acadia.
With Daniel Renaud, The Press