Dacre — A young Montreal-area boy who was taken by his father who had allegedly murdered his wife and the boy’s mother was rescued by Ontario Provincial Police officers hundreds of kilometres away in a remote hamlet 22 kms south of Eganville late Friday afternoon.
In the small hamlet of Dacre, six-year-old Louka Fredette was taken into the arms of a female OPP officer when his father was brought to the ground after being tasered by another police officer in the back yard of a residence along Hwy. 132 owned by John and Barbara Friske.
The rescue ended an Amber Alert that was issued for the boy a day earlier after his mother, Veronique Barbe, 41, was found dead at a house in the Montreal suburb of Saint-Eustache late Thursday afternoon. Her death was classified as a homicide.
Ugo Fredette’s white pick-up truck was found abandoned in the early morning hours of Friday at a roadside stop in Lachute, northwest of Montreal. The Surete du Quebec believe that’s where Mr. Fredette came upon 71-year-old Lachute resident Yvon Lacasse whose Honda CR-V he was driving at the time of his arrest at Dacre. Mr. Lacasse is still missing and police are still investigating his disappearance. Mr. Fredette, 41, then drove to Maniwaki and then onto Rouyn-Noranda before entering Ontario.
Sightings of the stolen vehicle were reported in the Napanee area early Friday afternoon and officers began following the suspect vehicle north into Eastern Ontario.
The stolen vehicle entered Renfrew County at about 4:20 p.m. by which time all available officers from the Renfrew and Killaloe OPP detachments sped to the area. Units also responded from the Upper Ottawa Valley detachment in Pembroke and Bancroft. One of the units dfrom Bancroft was involved in a crash on Hwy. 28 at McArthur’s Mills when it allegedly t-boned a vehicle that was entering the highway from a general store in the tiny hamlet.
With the suspect vehicle heading north on Hwy. 41 from Griffith, and being followed by several police cruisers and two helicopters, several units were positioned at the intersection of Highways 41 and 132. The southbound Hwy. 41 ramp at this location was blocked by police vehicles so that the suspect vehicle would only have the option of continuing on Hwy 41 straight on to Hwy. 132 towards Renfrew. (Highway 41 traffic must make a left turn at this intersection to continue north towards Eganville).
At one point, the suspect vehicle reportedly turned around north of Griffith and proceeded back in a south direction, but then changed direction again and resumed heading north-east.
Speeds reportedly reached 140 to 150 kms an hour on this rural section of highway.
Prior to where the vehicle would have reached Hwy. 132, officers laid a spike belt across Hwy. 41 at the bottom of Tooey’s Hill, on the south side of the intersection. When the Honda SUV descended the hill it struck the belt, but continued on towards Dacre for another 1.7 kms. With little air left in the tires, the vehicle crossed over the centre line, entered the ditch and jumped the driveway at the Friske residence. It then continued across the yard another 120 feet before coming to rest against a low stone wall.
The driver exited the vehicle with the boy and then ran back towards the Friske residence, but along a forested area in the backyard.
Several officers from the scene of the spike belt followed behind the suspect vehicle and after exiting their vehicles along the highway ran in the laneway at the residence with guns drawn. When the Friskes came out of their home to see what was going on, they were told to go back inside immediately. The couple had heard a noise and thought a motorist had blown a tire and were going to investigate just as the officers were running up their driveway.
The couple watched the takedown unfold from a bedroom window in the rear of the house and spotted the man and boy in the corner of their backyard on the far side of their garden at the tree line. They shouted to two officers who were combing the area who then ran to that area.
The Friskes said the suspect held the boy and was making motions that would indicate he was threatening to stab him if they came any closer, but one officer shouted several times for him to get down and when the officer was able to get close enough he tasered him, bringing him to the ground.
Mr. Fredette and his son were uninjured, but both were checked out by paramedics who arrived on scene minutes after the takedown.
Young Louka was taken to Renfrew Victoria Hospital shortly after 5 p.m. in a police cruiser. The driver of the stolen vehicle was taken to the OPP detachment in Renfrew about an hour later.
He appeared in court Saturday by video link and was to be turned over to Quebec police on the weekend; however, instead he ended up being admitted to Renfrew Victoria Hospital for injuries suffered while in his cell that required medical attention. He was later transferred to an Ottawa hospital where he remained Monday afternoon, according to a police report.
Special Investigations Unit (SIU) was notified at the time of the incident.
Members of the OPP continue to assist the Sûreté du Quebec with their investigation and the security detail involving the accused. In addition, a parallel investigation is ongoing into any criminal offences that occurred in the province of Ontario, under the direction of OPP Case Manager, Detective Inspector Daniel Nadeau with the Criminal Investigations Branch (CIB).