The Saguenay police involved in a violent altercation last summer at the Stoneham campground escaped any criminal charges. The Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions (DPCP) concluded that there was no “reasonable prospect of conviction” in this case, even though several witnesses claim to have seen a man being beaten.
“It’s extremely disappointing,” laments the owner of the campsite, who says she suffered insults and turbulence from the group for two consecutive nights of drinking. She agrees to tell the story of the events on condition of anonymity, for fear of possible reprisals.
Insults, nocturnal noise and an injured neighbor
An individual had reserved eight campgrounds for the weekend beginning August 20, 2021, she said. “Several children accompanied the group,” says the owner. Many police officers from Saguenay also.
On the first evening, the revelers disturb and the security guards of the campsite have to intervene to ask for silence and respect for the curfew. The next day, the group resumes what it had started the day before: the party begins again and continues beyond the permitted time. Several individuals are in an advanced state of intoxication, and security intervenes again to demand compliance with the rules.
A neighbor also decides to get involved, overwhelmed by this second evening of noise. The situation escalated quickly, remembers the owner: as soon as she arrived on the spot, she noticed that “someone was being beaten up by four people”.
She immediately called the police, she explains. The Sûreté du Québec (SQ) confirms that it intervened around 11 p.m. on August 21, 2021, following an altercation. The occurrence report states that one person, when police arrived, had suffered minor injuries.
The agents met several witnesses to try to clarify the circumstances of the fight – without however expelling the group, specifies the owner. The next day, even when the alcohol was no longer having an effect, it was still showing “great verbal violence”, recalls the businesswoman, who was 27 at the time. “It was very difficult to recover from it,” she explains. These people insulted me enormously. »
The DPCP did not follow up on the conclusions of the SQ. “In light of the evidence, we believe that there is no reasonable prospect of conviction,” said DPCP spokesperson Audrey Roy-Cloutier.
Nothing to be ashamed of, says the lawyer for the police
The six Saguenay police officers present during the altercation hired criminal lawyer Jean-Marc Fradette to defend them. The latter remains categorical: his clients have nothing to reproach themselves for.
“They just tried to immobilize the guy who first tried to hit someone,” said M.e Fraudette. According to him, no one was intoxicated at the time of the fight, except the man who received the beatings. “My clients are all parents of minor children, athletes in addition, mountain bike enthusiasts. That’s precisely why they were at Stoneham and they drank moderately, ”says the lawyer.
Members of other police forces, including Laval, Saint-Jérôme and Terrebonne, were also part of the group, he explains.
In his version of the facts, Mr.e Fradette maintains that the man was “really beside himself” and that he injured himself during the altercation. According to the lawyer, the owners of the campsite took “fact and cause for the victim because he is a permanent resident” of the place. “These people say that it is the omerta of the police. This is false: the investigator was from Montreal, not from Saguenay. The prosecutor was from Quebec, not from Saguenay. The DPCP makes its decisions independently, weighing both sides of the coin. »
As for the insults uttered the day after the altercation, according to the owner, “there is no certainty that they were police officers”, affirms Me Fraudette. “Anyway, even if they insulted him, there’s nothing criminal about it. »
Disciplinary investigation in sight?
The Saguenay police are stingy with comments and refuse to specify the number of police officers involved in the events of August 21. The service’s publicist, Luc Tardif, specifies that a disciplinary investigation should begin soon to determine whether the police have breached their code of discipline. “We had to wait to know the conclusions of the DPCP before opening our investigation”, indicates Mr. Tardif.
The disciplinary code of the Saguenay Police Service (SPS) stipulates in particular that an officer must, at all times, “treat any person with courtesy and respect”, in addition to “observe any law or regulation”.
The SPS has not specified when it will open the disciplinary investigation or the timetable it has set for presenting the conclusions. A police officer found guilty of a breach of the code of discipline is exposed to various consequences, from a simple reprimand to dismissal.