Montreal mayors demand safer police pursuits after 18-year-old cyclist killed in Ahuntsic-Cartierville

A 17-year-old has been arrested and charged after a vehicle fleeing a Sûreté du Québec interception struck and killed 18-year-old cyclist Isaac Larrivée at Jeanne-Mance and Henri-Bourassa on Oct. 30. Larrivée was riding to class and was pronounced dead at the scene. Police say the speeding car was suspected to be stolen.

The Ahuntsic-Cartierville borough is reviewing the intersection under its post-collision protocol, and the Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes has opened a probe into the SQ intervention, with the SPVM running a parallel investigation.

Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez-Ferrada and the mayor of Ahuntsic-Cartierville signed a letter demanding better oversight of SQ pursuits on residential streets, asking that police assess risk before chasing a vehicle through a neighbourhood. The letter calls for the intervention of Quebec Minister of Domestic Security Guy Lapointe Jr.

In June, two passengers died when a car went into a river at Coteau-du-Lac, west of Montreal, roughly two minutes after an SQ patrol car tried to intercept it. The BEI opened that investigation. With seven investigators. This is the second SQ chase this year to draw a BEI probe.

The suspect faces charges of manslaughter, criminal negligence causing death, dangerous driving causing death, failure to stop at the scene of an accident resulting in death, and fleeing from a peace officer. The charges have not been tested in court.