Cynthia Abraham
Triple Pepper-Spray in Home Invasion
Mar 2 – Police are investigating a home invasion in Duvernay that left three people in hospital after being pepper-sprayed during the incident. The trio of unidentified victims were maced at around 1 a.m. at a house located on Montpellier St. They were transported to hospital for decontamination.
Police could not confirm if the three individuals were residents of the house.
Body of Missing Teen Girl Found Behind School
Mar 1 – Police confirmed the lifeless body of 14-year-old Athena Gervais was found Thursday afternoon in a stream behind her school. She’d been missing for three days.
She was last seen leaving her school at lunchtime on Monday, February 26th, and was reported missing after she failed to return to school or home after lunch.
Laval police set up a command centre at the school she attended in Fabreville, École secondaire Poly-Jeunesse, and urged anyone with information about Gervais’ whereabouts to come forward and speak confidentially with investigators.
Firefighters participating in the search for the missing teen discovered Gervais’ body in the creek behind her school on Thursday, March 1st, at around 4:30 pm. Police had also called in a canine unit and a helicopter to assist with the search.
According to one report, Gervais and some friends allegedly stole cans of the alcoholic energy drink FCKD UP from a nearby dépanneur during that fateful lunchtime. The drink contains 11.9 % alcohol and extremely high amounts of sugar. It was denounced by health experts last fall as a dangerous drink being marketed to adolescents.
A preliminary report from the autopsy comfirmed that there were no signs of violence on the body, and concluded the girl’s death was accidental. The exact cause of death was not disclosed. A more detailed autopsy report, expected in the coming days, will reveal whether she consumed any substances and establish the official cause of her death.
Grief counsellors were sent to the Fabreville high-school on Friday to assist students and staff cope with the loss and shock.
Suspicious Fire at Hair Salon
Mar 1 – Laval’s arson squad is investigating a suspicious fire that broke out in a hair salon in a strip mall on Boul. Samson early last Thursday.
Firefighters were summoned to the hairdresser’s when the fire alarms went off just after 3 a.m. They arrived to find smoke coming from the salon and a small fire burning inside the locale. After quickly putting out the flames, firefighters found traces of a liquid that may have been used to start the fire.
The salon’s owners could not be reached
Third Round of Drug Raids Nets Zero Arrests
Feb 22 – Laval police officers were among the task force that carried out a third wave of raids aimed at breaking up a drug trafficking network linked to the Hells Angels. More than 60 police officers fromvarious police services were involved with executing warrants in five municipalities north of Laval.
Eight raids were carried out in residences, warehouses, and a commercial establishment.
Spearheaded by the Sûreté du Québec’s anti-organized crime task force, the third wave included members of the Laval and Montreal police services, as well as the RCMP. The raids took place in Mirabel, St-Colomban, St-André-d’Argenteuil, Ascension, and Prévost.