Quebec inmates escape jail in helicopter
MONTREAL — Three dangerous inmates who used a helicopter to make a daring escape from a suburban Quebec City detention centre on Saturday evening have been added to the list of the 10 most wanted in Quebec.
The three escapees — Yves Denis, 35; Denis Lefebvre, 53; and Serge Pomerleau, 49 — were awaiting trial on charges of murder, gangsterism and drug trafficking. Quebec provincial police have issued several alerts to the public on Twitter warning people not to attempt to intercept the men and to call 911 if they are spotted.
Police are releasing few details about the scope of the manhunt or the backgrounds of the three men who fled from the Orsainville Detention Centre with the help of a green helicopter that was headed west — and which purportedly landed briefly in a courtyard before taking off with the three inmates.
But the head of the union representing prison guards said he’s not surprised about the second such jailbreak in about a year because security at many provincial detention centres is lax.
Mathieu Lavoie, president of the Syndicat des agents de la paix en services correctionnels du Québec, said in an interview Sunday that his union has been asking for improved “measures” since last year’s similarly daring escape from a St. Jerome prison, as well as a meeting with the Liberal government’s new public security minister — but that very little action has been taken and very little government interest shown.
He said Quebec’s detention centres are too crowded and require extra patrols, and that inflexible “rules of engagement” mean that guards can’t use their firearms unless their lives are directly in danger. The escape of three prisoners by helicopter from the yard of the Orsainville Detention Centre near Quebec City follows a similar 2013 escape
by two prisoners from a St. Jerome, Que., prison In that case, he said, it’s not surprising that a helicopter could make such a brazen landing in a prison courtyard because it would be difficult for prison officers to intercept.
Even the person in the watchtower is prohibited from taking action in such a case, other than notifying others that something is going on.
“What we’re saying is there is a problem in all correctional facilities,” said Lavoie. “Security is still a problem. I don’t know what they are waiting for — our agents need to be secure, as does the general population.”
Quebec provincial police Sgt. Ann Mathieu said Sunday that the men were arrested in 2010 and were awaiting trial, but she wouldn’t specify the charges.
However, the police website said the three were part of an operation that included 72 arrests, and Quebec’s Criminal Information Centre labels them as dangerous and possibly armed.
From the political side, a press aide to Quebec Public Security Minister Lise Theriault said that she was appraised of the situation on Saturday night and that the main focus at the moment is on capturing the escaped inmates. However, she has asked to know the circumstances surrounding the event and the operations involved.
The Orsainville Detention Centre, about 10 kilometres from the centre of Quebec City, can hold up to 710 prisoners. In 2010, it was the scene of a fire and a violent skirmish that ended with two inmates dead and another six rushed to hospital. It was also the scene of a riot in February 2008, which was apparently triggered by a smoking ban at the facility.
Saturday’s helicopter escape had similarities to another bold jailbreak from March 2013 in which two inmates escaped from a St. Jerome, Que., prison.