Man called ‘imminent threat’ on alert throughout Quebec had several run-ins with police

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The man described this month as an “imminent threat” when the Sûreté du Québec issued a province-wide alert advising residents of a small town in Gaspé to hide in their homes while they searched for him. He had at least two suicidal run-ins with police in the past. .

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On September 2, the SQ issued an alert to cell phones across Quebec advising residents of the city of St-Elzéar-de-Bonaventure to stay home and be on the lookout for a man provincial police deemed dangerous. . The SQ later admitted that the alert should not have been sent to the four corners of the province. Hours later, the man was arrested.

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Steve Soucy, 50, a resident of the small town, was charged in New Carlisle with making threats, possession of a prohibited or restricted firearm and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose. According to court records, on September 8, Quebec court judge James Rondeau ordered that Soucy be sent to the Philippe Pinel Institute in Montreal to undergo a 60-day mental health evaluation to determine if he could be considered criminally. responsible.

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Soucy was also charged with possession of a firearm when he was prohibited from doing so after pleading guilty to various charges in 2018.

It all started on November 17, 2017, after Soucy got into an argument with a woman and left his home in Trois-Rivières with a rifle. This triggered an intense manhunt as police tried to locate Soucy using a SWAT team, trained dogs and helicopters. Soucy avoided arrest for days by breaking into chalets.

When he was arrested, Soucy was suffering from hypothermia. He was charged with assaulting a woman and breaking and entering and was released on bail in January 2018.

A decision made by Canada’s Parole Board says that after Soucy was released on bail, he disappeared. Police learned that he had taken advantage of a friend who allowed Soucy to use his credit card. Soucy used the card to make purchases worth up to $19,000. He also left with his friend’s car and drove it despite being subject to a court order, issued in 2015, that prohibited him from being behind the wheel of any vehicle for 10 years.

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When police found him, Soucy was aggressive and brandishing a sword. Officers used pepper spray in an attempt to arrest him but failed. This triggered an eight-hour standoff during which Soucy was intoxicated and said that he was suicidal. A SWAT team had to be called in to arrest him.

He was charged in a dozen cases in February 2018, in Trois-Rivières and Shawinigan. He was ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation and it was determined that he was fit to stand trial. In June 2018, he pleaded guilty to a long series of crimes, including armed robbery, breaking and entering, and robbery, and was sentenced to 25 months in prison.

He told his probation officers that from 2015 to 2018, he drank alcohol and used speed every day while leading a lifestyle he described as “psychotic.” He said that he expected the police to kill him when they arrested him in 2018.

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When he had his first parole hearing in July 2019, he was taking antidepressants and no longer wanted to die.

He was denied full parole but qualified for automatic legal release three months later, after reaching the two-thirds mark of his sentence. The parole board imposed a number of conditions on his release, including that Soucy not consume alcohol. On February 13, 2020, someone who knew Soucy called her probation officer to report that she had been drinking and that she was suicidal. Soucy did not show up for a meeting with his probation officer that day.

He was located by the police when he was leaving a bar. He told the officers that he was armed and asked them to shoot him. He was arrested after police used a stun gun on him and was taken to a hospital. His legal release was revoked on May 31, 2020, and his sentence expired two months later.

Soucy’s current case returns to court on November 14.

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