A patrol vehicle from the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) was stolen in broad daylight last month, while it was being repaired in a garage. The bandit will now face justice for this particularly audacious theft. However, Zachary Hull has already failed in his appearance.
Posted at 2:39 p.m.
The 37-year-old Laval resident was accused this week of having stolen an “SPVM patrol vehicle” on April 8, according to the judicial information. Released on a promise to appear, he however failed to appear before the judge for his appearance last Tuesday at the Montreal courthouse.
The stolen vehicle belonged to SPVM neighborhood station 16 in Verdun. However, he was in repair for a breakage when he disappeared. “According to the information, the suspect managed to steal the keys from the garage during opening hours,” said agent Véronique Comtois, spokesperson for the SPVM. The police do business with certain private garages to repair their vehicles.
It appears that the suspect did not use the patrol vehicle to commit any other crimes.
The following night, the Sûreté du Québec found the vehicle abandoned in Vaudreuil-Dorion, added officer Comtois. The suspect was finally arrested a week later in the Côte-des-Neiges district. It is unknown if the patrol car was abandoned due to mechanical failure.
It’s not every day that the SPVM has a patrol vehicle stolen. According to our research, the last publicized case dates back to 2011 in the west of Montreal. The thief then managed to seize the vehicle, while the officers had moved away for a few seconds.