A young car thief from Montreal is caught red-handed in the Galeries d’Anjou parking lot. Police officers block his way. He is trapped. The young thief accelerates and hits a police officer who opens fire. This young criminal is now facing a serious prison sentence.
Published at 9:48 am.
Adil Alli Latif, 18, pleaded guilty at the Montreal courthouse on Thursday to charges of aggravated assault on a police officer and dangerous driving causing injury to City of Montreal police officer Guillaume Ouellet (SPVM).
On July 22, a witness called 911 when he saw a man stealing a vehicle in the parking lot of Galeries d’Anjou, a shopping center in east Montreal. Three accomplices await him on board a white Acura vehicle that had been stolen from Place Vertu the day before.
A few minutes later, two agents from the SPVM intervention group intercepted the Acura on Impasse Saint-Zotique, near the scene of the accident. Officer Ouellet gets out of his patrol car. At that moment, Adil Alli Latif, behind the wheel, accelerated so quickly that his tires “squealed.”
“He runs directly toward Officer Ouellet as he tries to escape. At the same time, believing that his life was in danger, the agent drew his service weapon and fired a shot into the radiator grille of the Acura vehicle,” said the summary of facts read by prosecutor Pierre-Olivier Bolduc.
Officer Ouellet was thrown into the air by the Acura vehicle and dragged several meters. He suffered serious injuries and is still unable to work. An hour after the police officer was charged, the four suspects, including a teenager, were arrested.
Car theft ring
Adil Alli Latif told investigators that he had pressed the accelerator fully because he saw no way to get past the police officer. He was then alone in the Acura vehicle because his accomplices got out when they heard the police sirens.
Adil Alli Latif was likely part of a very active car theft network. When questioned by the police, the young man stated that he had received “orders” to steal four “large vehicles for export purposes.” However, the Acura vehicle was not part of this “order.”
Car thefts are a scourge in Montreal. In recent years, the number of stolen vehicles in the metropolis has risen sharply, as La Presse announced last spring. Stolen vehicles are typically shipped abroad from the Port of Montreal.
A pre-sentence report will be prepared to assist the judge in determining the sentence. I Yann Trignac defends the defendant.