A suspect was arrested Monday morning in Montreal in connection with the attempted murder of Leonardo Rizzuto on March 15, in Laval. According to our information, he is a relative of Kevin Rochebrun, arrested by the police last week in this case.
Police officers from the National Organized Crime Repression Squad (ENRCO) arrested a 34-year-old man from Rivière-des-Prairies. This individual known to the police and suspected of having taken part in the attack has no criminal record. He should be released at the end of the day, while the investigation continues.
Leonardo Rizzuto, youngest son of late Montreal mob boss Vito Rizzuto, was shot on March 15 while alone on Highway 440 West, near Highway 13, in the middle of rush hour, around 4:30 p.m.
He had received two projectiles, and suffered wounds to his legs and a shoulder.
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Leonardo Rizzuto
The victim was traveling in a black Mercedes near exit 17 giving access to Highway 13 when the occupant of a black Porsche Macan car allegedly fired several times at him.
“The investigation reveals that a second vehicle, a red Porsche Macan, could also be linked to this attempted murder,” said the Sûreté du Québec (SQ).
The authorities had announced the arrest of a first suspect last Friday. Kevin Rochebrun, a man in his thirties linked to street gangs, was questioned and then released the same day on a promise to appear.
Police confirmed last week that individuals in two Porsche Macan SUVs, one red and the other black, were involved in the attack.
The first vehicle had been seen near where Rizzuto was before the events, while it was from the other vehicle that the shots were fired towards Leonardo Rizzuto, on the highway.
According to our information, before the attack, Leonardo Rizzuto would have been seated at the Rom Café, located on the boulevard des Laurentides, near the rue de Genève, and considered as one of the headquarters of the Sicilian clan of the Montreal mafia.
Investigators believe that the attempted murder of Rizzuto may have been ordered by Francesco Del Balso, a former lieutenant of the Sicilian clan now more associated with the group of Martin Robert and Stéphane Plouffe, two influential Hells Angels from the Montreal section.
A week after the attack on Rizzuto, SQ investigators arrested Del Balso at Montreal-Trudeau airport as he was about to leave the country for Italy.
He was released pending further investigation, but his passport and cell phone were seized.
Anyone wishing to transmit information confidentially can contact the Criminal Information Center at 1 800 659-4264, recalls the police force in a press release.
With Daniel Renaud