Drag racing on Rideau near bar
Police Chief Charles Bordeleau told the police services board Monday that he was concerned about people getting hurt through violence after the “slightest provocation.” He asked for witnesses to call police.
“Someone knows who did this and we need for them to come forward,” Bordeleau said.
There have been 30 shootings and 26 crime guns seized this year. There have been nine shootings this month, with four people hit by gunfire, he said.
Another resident of the Augusta Street apartment building said she has complained repeatedly to city bylaw officers about the noise made by Mingle Room patrons “drag racing” down Rideau Street late at night. One bar patron who drives a red sports car often revs his motor and races down Rideau as patrons in the patio outside yell and clap, said Alicia, who didn’t want her last name used for fear of retaliation.
Sometimes other cars join in the race down Rideau, she said. “I hear the screaming: ‘Yeah! yeah!’ I hear the noise of the engine. Vroom, vroom. Three or four times sometimes a night I hear this.
“Seriously, it’s awful. We have kids that have to go to school in the morning, and they are being woken up at 12, at 1 a.m., at two. It’s ridiculous.”
The city bylaw department, asked about the resolution of any complaints against the bar, said it was investigating, but would not have a reply Monday.
Alicia said it’s difficult to get police to respond to a noise complaint late at night, when they are busy with more serious things. “There’s nothing they can do. They’d have to stay there all night to catch them in the act, so basically it’s no use.”
The Citizen tried to contact a man who was at the Mingle Room after last week’s stabbing and said he was the manager, although he did not give his name. He did not return a phone call or text. An email sent to the bar was not returned, and a reporter found the bar closed on Monday evening.
The landlord of the building is a numbered company whose directors are Ahmad Sobh and Hanadi Dawi, who also own the building housing the Shawarma Palace next door. Dawi said she was in the basement at the time and heard nothing, but had provided police with security video.
“My employees didn’t hear anything,” she said. “I can’t really put the blame on (the bar) because it could happen anywhere. The city is changing.”
Coun. Mathieu Fleury said he hasn’t received any complaints about The Mingle Room, although several constituents con cerned about the shooting phoned his office on Monday. The intersection of Rideau and Augusta, around the Quickie store, is known for “drug use and late night activity,” he added.
As far as he’s concerned, anyone carrying a gun is probably involved with a gang. “Who carries a gun around?”
Fleury said he would be glad to work with residents about noise complaints. If a car is in motion, it’s a police matter, but if the car is stationary and revving the engine, bylaw officers have jurisdiction, he said.
Monday morning ’s shooting occurred just before 1 a.m. Soikie said she heard several gunshots — “I heard a pow, real loud. It was like a firecracker” — and ran to her balcony. She saw a young man lying on the street bleeding. “He had no chance, that poor little boy,” said Soikie, who was distraught and said she had not slept all night.
“People crying, screaming. Oh my God, it was terrible. It was like you were in a horror movie.”
Soikie said she saw four young men who also appeared to be in their early 20s run from the scene, disappearing behind the Quickie store.
She saw the early morning incident on June 22 from her balcony, too. Soikie said she heard several gunshots and saw a gold car with three or four men inside driving by slowly in front of the bar. She said she saw a gun emerge from the window of the car. She saw a young man on the ground in front of the bar, and thought he had been shot.
Police said there were reports of gunfire, but when they arrived at 1:20 a.m. they found Abdullahi Osman, 25, with multiple stab wounds. Osman was once accused of being the getaway driver in a gangland homicide.
Osman was charged with firstdegree murder in 2015 for the execution-style shooting of Yusuf “Grinch” Ibrahim, a known Crips gang member. Another associate, Mohamed Abdi Abdullahi, was accused of pulling the trigger. Charges against both men were withdrawn last year.