The man who had chased young moose at the wheel of his vehicle and rolled over one of them, last summer on the North Shore, will have to answer for his actions in court.
Michaël Montigny will appear on June 12 at the Sept-Îles courthouse for “having caused an animal to suffer unnecessarily”, a charge under the Criminal Code, for which the maximum penalty is five years’ imprisonment.
The 32-year-old man, with a well-stocked criminal record, was also served on Monday with a statement of offense for having “chased big game with a vehicle”, a criminal charge, that is to say which falls under Quebec laws, in this case the Wildlife Conservation and Development Act.
The minimum fine for this offense is $2,500; the accused has 30 days to enter a plea of guilty or not guilty.
The facts, which had caused a stir, had occurred in Sept-Îles, on Desforges Boulevard, “on or around August 3, 2022”, specifies the statement of offense.
“Get away, my tabarnak, because you’re going to taste it as a host,” launched Michaël Montigny, chasing two frightened fawns, filming the scene.
He was seen chasing one of the fawns down the dirt shoulder, pressing the accelerator as the animal approached.
“You’re the first to go! “, he exclaimed after having probably caught the beast.
Large criminal record
Michaël Montigny has a voluminous legal file; he has been the subject of some 30 criminal prosecutions since 2013, some containing multiple charges.
His most recent conviction dates back to April 2022, when he was found guilty of assault in a domestic context in relation to events that took place in January 2021, for which he was sentenced to an intermittent 60-day prison sentence.
Michaël Montigny also pleaded guilty in December to driving with a blood alcohol level twice the legal limit; he was fined $2,000.
In 2015, Michaël Montigny was sentenced to two years in prison for conspiracy to commit a criminal act.
The following year, he had another trial for drug trafficking, at the end of which he was sentenced to a concurrent sentence of 60 days in prison.
He was quick to reconnect with the justice system upon his release from prison, being convicted in 2017 of assault with a weapon for acts that occurred earlier that year.
Then, in 2019, he was charged with assault, theft under $5,000 and mischief, but the first two charges were dropped after he served a month in protective custody and he was sentenced to a day in jail for the third.
with Isabelle Ducas and Louis-Samuel Perron