Accused in drugging robberies arraigned
Allegedly preyed on seniors with laced chocolates
MONTREAL•Amanaccused of drugging seniors in their Montreal homes with chocolates laced with a powerful sedative and then robbing them was arraigned in court late Thursday.
Police allege Hamid Chekakri would arrive at the home of a senior who was looking to sell their property and then express an interest in buying it.
Alleged victims have described him as a charming suspect who would gain their trust with his kind manner.
In each case, upon concluding a fake transaction to buy the home, the suspect would allegedly offer the victim or victims a box of chocolates and a bottle of wine as a tradition and insist they eat a chocolate.
After ingesting the candy, the alleged victims would fall asleep for several hours — in some cases for more than a day — and upon waking up would realize they had been robbed.
Police allege Chekakri, 47, laced the chocolates with the prescription medication Clonazepam, which is used as a sedative or to treat seizures and anxiety.
The drug he is alleged to have used was so strong that he faces five counts of aggravated assault for having endangered the lives of the people who were robbed. He faces 18 charges in all.
A warrant filed in Montreal indicates local police began investigating a series of home invasions last December, with the incidents having taken place over a period of less than two weeks.
Chekakri is alleged to have charmed his way into three homes between Dec. 12 and Dec. 21, and tricked at least five people between the ages of 67 and 76.
One of the documents filed during the extradition process states that in one case in Montreal, on Dec. 12, a 72-year-old woman refused the alleged robber’s offer of a chocolate and he “put a chocolate into (her) mouth. Approximately 15 minutes later, (she) started feeling dizzy and lost consciousness. She awoke approximately 15 hours later.”
The victim was taken to a hospital and police were contacted. When she returned home, she discovered that money, jewelry and other valuables were missing.
Police say that on Dec. 18, a man gained the confidence of a 67-year-old woman and her 76-year-old husband by pretending to be interested in their neighbour’s home, also in Montreal’s Rivièredes-Prairies—Pointe-auxTrembles borough. The couple accepted the man’s gift of chocolates and ate them. The couple slept more than 24 hours. The 67-yearold woman awoke first and found bruises on her head and lips. She then found her husband unconscious on the floor.
The couple were taken to a hospital, where both tested positive for Clonazepam. When they returned home, they discovered that a jewelry box, personal documents and a sum of money were missing.
Investigators recovered video footage recorded by security cameras at several locations close to the victims’ home and noticed that a vehicle, rented by Chekakri, left the area after the couple fell asleep. The vehicle was later found abandoned in February at a bus station in Toronto.
In a third case, Chekakri is alleged to have drugged two sisters, aged 67 and 72, on Dec. 21, after they had a short discussion with him at their home in the town of Mount Royal, Que. The sisters woke up two days later, feeling confused. They contacted police after realizing they had been robbed. Both tested positive for Clonazepam.
Last December, Montreal police sought help from the public to identify a man whose image was captured leaving the scene of at least one of the robberies. He was described as “calm, patient and very charming” man who used the aliases Aaron, David and Alain when he introduced himself to the victims.
A resident of Algeria, Chekakri was arrested in Atlanta, Georgia, on March 31 by the U.S. Marshals Service after arriving on a flight from Costa Rica.