FREDERIC SERRE
The 1019 Report
A pair of Vaudreuil-Dorion teens arrested May 7 and charged with shooting up a Montreal pool hall are being investigated by Montreal Police as being members of a street gang known for committing acts of extortion against bars and restaurants in the Greater Montreal region.
Kassandra Pépin-Larocque, 18, and Steachy Valme, 19, are alleged to have fired shots from a stolen car at the front entrance of the popular Fitzroy Bar, located on Mont Royal Avenue in the trendy Plateau Mont Royal district on May 2 shortly before the bar’s 3 a.m. closing time. No injuries were reported.
Montreal police and the Sûreté du Québec did not reveal the location of the arrests, or how they were able to connect the two suspects to the shooting. Police, however, are linking their alleged crime to a campaign of terror being waged by a street gang named Arabs With Attitude. The group is suspected to carrying out attacks against businesses throughout the region.
According to a source with the Montreal police service, 72 hours after the May 2 attack, an associate with the company that owns Fitzroy was targeted at his residence on Nuns’ Island, when gunshots shattering a window of his home. No injuries were reported in that incident.
Police said Pépin-Larocque and Valme allegedly used an Intratec TEC-9 semi-automatic weapon to commit their crime and were aboard a stolen Toyota Tacoma. During their arrest on the evening of May 7, SQ officers noted that Valme was not wearing a court-ordered ankle monitor. A third suspect, 18, was also arrested, but released on a promise to appear at a later date.
The arrests in Vaudreuil-Dorion led to a raid on a location in St. Sauveur, north of Montreal. Police declined to provide details.
According to police, Pépin-Larocque and Valme are known due to their juvenile records, but do not have criminal records as adults.
According to the Montreal police, investigators are intensifying their hunt for members of Arabs With Attitude as cases of extortion against bars and restaurants are on the rise, with some gang leaders orchestrating the attacks from their jail cells. One police source said merchants are being told to pay several thousands of dollars or risk seeing their businesses torched or shot up.
“If you are a business owner and you’ve been a victim of threats, do not succumb to them. Contact the (Montreal police service) immediately to let us know,” states a press release issued earlier this month after establishments in LaSalle were attacked by arsonists in the span of 24 hours.