The Quebec City Police Service (SPVQ) is honoring nine citizens who have provided assistance and sometimes even saved lives to their fellow citizens in need.
A taxi driver’s saving intuition
On May 5, 2022, Eldin Hasanbegovic, a taxi driver, was called by police to a home in Beauport to drive a man. At the time, he did not know that the man in question was Michel Boucher, who had just been arrested for probation violation and burglary in connection with a marital dispute with his ex-spouse.
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Eldin Hasanbegovic
Photo: Radio-Canada
According to SPVQ, since the woman had no fear for her safety, the police were forced to release him with a promise to appear. They called Eldin Hasanbegovic to take him back to his relatives.
But moments after dropping off Michel Boucher, the taxi driver noticed a vehicle parked nearby speeding away. He didn’t see the suspect enter, but he had a strange feeling. He therefore decides to return to the address to which he was called.
Immediately upon his arrival at the scene, Eldin Hasanbegovic saw a woman coming out of her apartment screaming, chased by a man.
He notices that she is seriously injured. He therefore offers to quickly get into his vehicle to take her to the hospital, but she does not want to leave her 6-year-old daughter, who is still in the apartment. The suspected attacker then goes back inside.
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The attack took place in this apartment building on Rue Sainte-Cécile in the Beauport district.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Steve Jolicoeur
The taxi driver therefore gathers all his courage, gets out of his vehicle and makes his way to the apartment. He asks the suspect to leave the apartment.
At this moment the police arrive on site to take over the intervention.
They arrest Michel Boucher again at the crime scene. He is then accused of stabbing his ex-partner. Fortunately, the girl suffered no injuries.
The SPVQ highlights the extraordinary courage of Eldin Hasanbegovic. Without your intervention to protect the victim, events could have taken a very different course, he wrote.
The next day, the Bureau of Independent Investigations (BEI) launched an independent investigation to better understand what led police to release the suspect the first time after his arrest.
Especially since court records show that the defendant was also arrested a few days earlier for attempting to strangle the same victim.
In July, the investigation concluded that there was no foul play on the part of Quebec City Police Department officers.
The legal dispute against Michel Boucher continues. He is due in court on December 7th. He faces eight charges, including attempted murder, aggravated assault, assault, battery and breach of promise.
Aborted murder in Montcalm
On May 3rd, shortly after 8 p.m., Pierrette Faucher and Jean Gignac, residents of an apartment building in the Montcalm district, were alerted by screaming in the hallway.
Pierrette Faucher immediately left her apartment and noticed that her neighbor was being violently attacked by a man.
The suspect was then armed with a bladed weapon and struck the victim in the head. The neighbor is said to have grabbed his arm to get him to stop, to no avail. So she calls 9-1-1.
Meanwhile, Jean Gignac goes out into the hallway and observes the scene in turn. The suspect allegedly threatened to kill the victim by pointing his gun at her.
As he tried to pounce on the woman lying on the ground, Jean Gignac kicked him in the stomach. The blow would have caused the attacker to flee and return to his apartment.
When they arrived at the scene, police arrested the suspect for attempted murder.
The alleged victim still had to be transported to hospital for treatment of his injuries, but the SPVQ is confident that the interventions of Pierrette Faucher and Jean Gignac would have saved his life.
Keep a cool head in the face of horror
On September 2, 2021, a tragic multi-vehicle accident occurred on Dufferin Mont. Four members of the same family, Jackson Fortin, 14 years old, Emma Lemieux, 10 years old, her mother, Shellie Fletcher-Lemieux, 44 years old, and her father, James Fletcher, 68 years old, were killed. And Éric Légaré, a drunk driver, is the culprit.
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The victims of the accident: James Fletcher, Jackson Fortin, Emma Lemieux and Shellie Fletcher-Lemieux.
Photo: Courtesy
Catherine Savard, a professional nurse, stopped on the side of the road to help the victims. She had also started resuscitation maneuvers on the young victims, who were then transported to the hospital in critical condition.
Despite the terrible scene, she showed extraordinary composure, the SPVQ specifies in writing.
Also receiving an award was Constable Mathieu Audy, an SPVQ agent who was one of the first police officers to arrive on the scene and handled the situation with his outstanding manner.
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Éric Légaré killed four people in Beauport in September 2021 while driving while impaired. (Archive photo).
Photo: Radio-Canada / Frédéric Vigeant
Some will say that Ms. Bouchard and Mr. Audy were merely doing their duty due to their work as nurses and police officers, but their leadership skills far exceeded expectations. They were remarkably adept at coordinating the resources at their disposal, Quebec police argue in writing.
Don’t hesitate to jump
Five other citizens will also be honored for their intervention in drowning cases.
On July 20, Suzanne Gagné, who was cycling along the banks of the Saint-Charles River, did not hesitate to jump into the water after a boy reported the disappearance of a young woman swept away by the current. Unfortunately, the victim’s body was found by divers a few hours later.
The four other citizens, Marilou Dion, Sara-Maude Lescelleur, Lina Ouchcham and Vincent Vaillancourt, were lifeguards at the Sylvie Bernier swimming pool. On July 30, they saved a man in his 30s from drowning after he collapsed.