Two patrol officers from the Service de Police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM), suspected of warning the manager of a Mafia-affiliated bar of the upcoming visit by members of the Eclipse group, are the subject of a disciplinary investigation, The Press learns.
Posted at 5:00 am
The two police officers had previously been investigated by the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) Department of Internal Affairs for obstruction and breach of trust, but prosecutors in the case announced Thursday that no criminal charges would be filed against them.
According to an affidavit by an SQ investigator in support of a search warrant to obtain phone logs from one of the two police officers, the events took place on the evening of August 20, 2021, when gatherings at licensed facilities were still prohibited due to anti-COVID-19 sanitation measures.
That evening, several dozen people gathered at the Gelato Café on Saint-Laurent Boulevard in Little Italy to celebrate the anniversary of the eatery’s owner and manager.
The gelato cafe is controlled by the Lopez family of the Montreal Mafia, a clan that has run its businesses relatively discreetly for decades, controls several licensed establishments in north Montreal and whose leader is Serafino Oliverio, aka Sergio Lopez, according to police, as of November 2021 the target of an attempted murder at his home.
Volatile party people
Around 11:00 p.m. on the evening of August 20, 2021, a Neighborhood Station 35 sergeant notified the Eclipse unit, which specializes in policing licensed facilities and gathering intelligence on organized crime, that a group is bringing together a hundred people, with loud music playing and alcohol, was ongoing at Café Gelato, located on the premises of this Neighborhood Station (PDQ).
On the way to the site where the operation was being prepared, a PDQ 35 agent noticed the presence of a PDQ 27 squad car with two officers on board parked in front of the Gelato and suggested leaving the site. so as not to disturb a visit to the café that the Eclipse unit wanted to make.
“By the time the members of Eclipse and Morality arrived at Cafe Gelato at around 11:28 p.m., the event appeared to be over. The music was off, there were no more customers in the café or in the alley. The hundred people who had been there 28 minutes ago were now standing on the sidewalk. The furniture was put away, the staff was busy cleaning up,” we can read in the court documents written by the SQ investigator.
One sergeant claims that only the leak of information about an impending police operation could have caused an event of this magnitude to be ended so abruptly and in such a short space of time.
Excerpt from a court document written by an SQ investigator
The two officers from PDQ 27 (Ahuntsic) were out of their area that evening and another PDQ, 31 (Villeray–Parc Extension), is located between the areas of neighborhood stations 27 and 35.
In addition, the investigators found inconsistencies and contradictions in the evaluations of the business cards of the two patrol officers and the GPS of their patrol car and found no trace of an alleged theft of a vehicle in Laval, for which the two police officers were responsible and have provided their assistance.
Court documents also show that in July 2021, a police officer saw one of the two officers twice at the Gelato Cafe when he was off-duty and, according to her, “appeared to be very comfortable and very familiar with the place’s staff”.
Preliminary Statements
According to our information, the two police officers had a seniority of five and less than two years. They would have been temporarily relieved of their duties and reassigned to other duties since last fall.
As soon as the police department was informed of the incident, they asked the Sûreté du Québec to investigate. Given the seriousness of the allegations, administrative measures were taken against the police officers concerned pending their conclusion.
The SPVM, in response to questions from La Presse
“Following the Director of Law and Prosecution’s decision not to press charges, the SPVM confirms that the Department of Internal Affairs will conduct a disciplinary review of their file. The existing administrative measures will soon be evaluated to determine whether they will be maintained until the Department of Internal Affairs completes its investigation. The appropriate measures will be taken according to the conclusion of the latter,” added the SPVM in response to our questions.
However, according to the information we have, investigators have not found any connection between the two patrol officers and Gelato cafe staff on social media.
Their colleagues also accuse them of having witnessed the violation of hygiene measures in Café Gelato on the evening of August 20, 2021 and not having intervened.
To reach Daniel Renaud, dial 514.285-7000, extension 4918, write to [email protected] or write to the La Presse mailing address.