Alleged leader of new biker gang is a Laval resident

A Laval man who was deported from Canada seven years ago, and whose home was raided by organized crime investigators last week, is believed to be a member of a new and Quebec-based motorcycle gang known as the “Moors,” presenting a potential rivalry to the long-established Hell’s Angels.

According to the Montreal daily news site La Presse, Richard Goodridge was once a street gang leader and was deported from Canada in 2014, but later returned after receiving Canadian citizenship. La Presse says two of the Moors’ members were arrested several weeks ago.

The Montreal daily says the motorcycle gang’s philosophy is based on “inclusivity,” in contrast to the Hell’s Angels who historically have usually had an all-white membership. Goodridge, 52, is from Guyana in South America. La Presse says he was deported there but returned to Montreal two years later.

The news site claims that Woodridge’s Laval residence was raided by organized crime investigators from the Montreal Police Department last week, who were looking for evidence related to their investigation into an attempted murder in Montreal’s Little Italy neighbourhood in April.

While they say he wasn’t charged, they add that cell phones, clothing and a Moors motorcycle gang jacket were seized as potential evidence useful to the investigation. The two motorcycle club associates, identified by La Presse as Patrick Gilbert and Steven Thérien, were also arrested and charged.

The paper says that at Thérien’s Blainville residence, the investigators found two handguns, and a Moors club jacket. He was charged with unlawful firearms possession and breach of court-imposed conditions. La Presse maintains that Goodridge has a long biker gang history going back to the 1990s, including membership in several Hell’s Angels affiliate gangs.

LPD says image of officer’s ‘salute’ is out of context

A picture is worth a thousand words, isn’t it? Not so, say the Laval Police, noting that a recent photo of an LPD officer posted on social media by an irritated Laval resident grossly distorted the picture’s true meaning.

According to the LPD, the image of an unidentified LPD officer went viral. The person who took it had just been stopped after he was walking past a police car and gave the officers inside a middle-finger salute while allegedly also mouthing off an obscenity at them.

Since deliberately being disrespectuful towards officers of the peace is a ticketable offence, the officers issued him a $78 ticket. While questioning the officers about the offence he had committed, according to the LPD he video-recorded one of the officers as she held out her hand to demonstrate the offending gesture.

The LPD maintains the image circulated on social media, which appears to show the officer being disrespectful to a citizen, is out of context and doesn’t tell the truth.

Laval Fire Dept. puts out blaze at Bo-Bi-No Marina

On June 6, a boat fire at the Bo-Bi-No Marina along the waterfront in Sainte-Dorothée caused minor injuries and property damage.

(Photo: Courtesy of Association des Pompiers de Laval)

According to information on the Association des Pompiers de Laval’s Twitter feed, three persons suffered minor burns in the incident. In addition to the boat that was destroyed, two other small vessels were also damaged by the intense blaze.