Patrolman Gagné was about to take his lunch break at the neighborhood station on Rue de l’Hôtel-de-Ville when he heard a colleague announce over the radio that he was following a blue Mazda that was driving dangerously on Rue Racine and overtaking cars They didn’t respect the signs, ran red lights and made mandatory stops. From his position, he knew the driver was heading his direction, so he headed north toward Racine Street. When he arrived at the intersection, he saw a customer sitting outside the subway waving at him and pointing east (toward the courthouse) yelling that a car had almost hit a pedestrian.
The officer turned right and observed the suspect vehicle slowing in the left lane. “He was struck by an oncoming car on Racine Street. I saw him turn his wheels to the left to get onto the sidewalk in front of the courthouse. It was midday in the middle of summer. The sidewalk was full of pedestrians and he got stuck on the sidewalk and couldn’t get down because there were vehicles parked on the side of the road. His only outing was to go to the lawn at Place du Citoyen, and there were lots of people sitting at tables. “I made the decision to hit him,” the police officer said during the trial, which began Monday.
Immediately after the collision, the officer pointed his gun at the driver, used his door as a shield and ordered him to put his hands out the window to handcuff him. At this point, the officer stated that Jean-Luc Tremblay was very agitated and confused. The police officers who assisted in his arrest associated his behavior with that of a methamphetamine user, as he was foaming at the mouth, had difficulty remaining still and was talking incessantly.
When he returned to the police station, he continued to be agitated, refused to do a drug test, broke equipment and, once in the cell block, became threatening and said he wanted to get out “to face the man face to face.” .” Police”. He also said he wanted to get his father’s .22 rifle to shoot anywhere.
Petrol theft and dangerous driving
This June 27, 2023 marked the culmination of a series of crimes that marked his path for almost two months, because in addition to dangerous driving and threats against the police, he is accused of five gasoline thefts from convenience stores in Jonquière and Chicoutimi between May 3 and 27 June.
On Monday, the Crown presented 12 witnesses, grocery store employees and police officers, who described much the same approach as the defendant, who had asked in very Saguenay French that his trial be conducted in English “because he won’t.” “I do not understand French”. The translator, who was asked unnecessarily, simply listened to the proceedings without opening her mouth.
Each time it is reported that the citizen of Rang Saint-Benoît in Lac-Kénogami rushes to the gas pumps, fills up and goes to the supermarket to leave his contact details and say that he will come back later to pay. On May 3rd, in a supermarket on Rue Panet, he tried to pay with his card and when he saw that it didn’t work, he wanted to hand over his driver’s license to come back and pay, but the discussion became heated; He took his papers back and left, only to come back later and pay. That was the only time he came back.
On June 9, he showed up at a Petro-Canada branch on Harvey Boulevard where he was known and left without even going inside. The employee who recognized him said she was surprised because she had seen him ten times and he was a friendly and polite man. On June 9, he was unrecognizable: “When he arrived in the yard, I saw that he was not normal. He appeared to be drunk,” she testified. Later that day, patrol officers intercepted him on Kingdom Boulevard after citizens alerted police that a driver was overtaking dangerously. At that time, the police told him that they had received reports of gasoline theft.
On June 26th he started again in an Ultramar on the Boulevard du Realm in Arvida. In a video shown in court, he can be seen entering the supermarket with a notepad and telling the clerk that he will leave his details with him because he has no money. When she refuses, he leaves while the clerk tells him he will call the police. On the 27th he got $62 worth of gas at the Nutrinor on Rue des Mouettes and the salesman noticed that after overtaking he entered the yard at a good speed and that his tires smelled of heat. Before he leaves, he yells at the clerk to take his license plate because he doesn’t have any money.
He then makes his way to Chicoutimi to challenge his tickets at the town hall. He stopped at a supermarket on Rue Sainte-Anne, where he attempted to steal a soda can, and then illegally overtook the Saguenay Police Forensic Identification Service truck. Police officer Pierre-Alexandre Côté is surprised because he didn’t have time to see him coming and turns on his flashing lights. Tremblay quickly turns right, skids on Racine Street and sees that he’s doing 50 or 60 miles an hour in the middle of the day, overtaking the cars and overtaking the red ones. The policeman breaks off the chase and appeals to the broadcast, which is taken over by Rémi Gagné.
Eight Red Bulls for lunch
In the incoherent and difficult to understand testimony he gave during his trial about the events of June 27, Jean-Luc Tremblay described a day that was completely normal for him and began with drinking two cases of four large cans of Red Bull . He just accepts that and adds that he stopped taking drugs a few years ago. “I already had a balloon; It’s a lot of trouble and I want more.”
His goal that day was to contest his tickets at the Saguenay town hall in Chicoutimi because he said he was harassed by the police. In response to questions from his lawyer Olivier Théorêt from Legal Aid, the 35-year-old said he drove carefully as always, he followed the traffic and was very careful not to hurt anyone because “the world doesn’t know how to heat.” He denied driving through a red light and if he did so it must have been for safety reasons and to avoid a collision. He said he wanted to park on the sidewalk in front of City Hall because a police officer told him not to block traffic. The defendant will not testify about the theft allegations.
The trial continues on Tuesday morning with closing arguments from the lawyers.