The massive police operation that led to the arrest of Cégep Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu in the fall ended up being just a rush for a glass of water, while the young student accused of the threat was just cleared of all charges.
• Also read: [EN IMAGES] A suspect wearing a bulletproof vest arrested in Cégep Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu
Images of Simon-Olivier Frappier being handcuffed by agents and escorted to a patrol car made the rounds on social media and media on November 11.
It turns out that lame testimony, a multi-pocket jacket and an insulin tube must have been the origin of this riot, which will have cost tens of thousands of dollars.
Recall that a major action was launched after a police engineering student alerted the authorities to a colleague with a strange look.
In particular, there was talk of a “bulletproof jacket” and a “thread” sticking out below.
The young man was quickly escorted out of the establishment, where he was told to kneel and raise his hands in the air.
The scene played out under the eyes of several dozen students who rushed to film.
Paid after two months
Simon-Olivier Frappier was then handcuffed and taken to the police station for questioning. The 20-year-old student was eventually arrested for making threats. But almost two months later he was acquitted for lack of evidence.
“We were no longer convinced of a reasonable prospect of a conviction,” said Attorney General Me Simon Boulianne. However, the young man agreed to sign a precautionary order banning him from owning any weapons.
First, the jacket in question was a simple sleeveless jacket with several pockets, which Mr. Frappier wore frequently.
The wire sticking out was more likely to be the tubing from his insulin reservoir, which he had to have permanently because of his severe diabetes.
In addition, according to our information, shortly after his arrest, a student reported to the police that he had already heard Mr Frappier being threatened by a psychology teacher.
Upon verification, these were not direct threats but reported through an intermediary.
Archive photo
Simon-Olivier Frappier’s multi-pocket jacket was mistaken for a bulletproof jacket.
police everywhere
There seems therefore to have been much more fear than harm in this file while the police locked up CEGEP for part of the day.
In addition to many police officers from Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, officers from the Sûreté du Québec (SQ), Roussillon and Longueuil also came to help. The SQ helicopter flew over the school for hours and forensics were deployed pre-emptively.
Forbidden to enter the premises
To his dismay, Mr Frappier has not been allowed to set foot in CEGEP since the incident. The facility has taken steps parallel to the court case and so far has prevented him from returning.
“My client is very relieved at the turn of events,” said his attorney, Me Anne-Marie Dion. All he wants now is to resume his normal life and get back to school as soon as possible. We are waiting for the decision of cégep. »
Even the psychology professor who is the focus of this whole story doesn’t feel threatened by the student, although he would rather not teach him in the future.
“It seems that in the end we didn’t have much to justify the threat,” said Frankie Bernèche. Maybe it wasn’t so much a threat as maybe more a form of provocation to get attention I think. »