Google Translated from French
The last vestige of the biker war, the former Hells Angels bunker of the Sherbrooke section in the city of the same name, will fall under the peaks of wreckers on Wednesday.
The Wellington Street South Fortress is the last of the old Hells Angels bunkers still standing. It is also the one with the most history.
It was in this room that the famous Lennoxville purge took place in 1985, that is to say the murders of the Hells Angels of the defunct Laval section (North) whose bodies were later found in the St. Lawrence River.
Meetings of members of the Hells Angels, called “masses”, were held there several times during the biker war, sometimes even in a shelter, outside, because the bikers feared that the police had placed microphones there. .
Bikers have sometimes buried their money on adjacent land or practiced shooting.
Former Hells Angel Sylvain Boulanger, who became the repentant witness through which the SharQc investigation arrived, was a member of the Sherbrooke section and took part in meetings.
During a search carried out in the bunker of Sherbrooke, the investigators of the Sûreté du Québec found information on the enemies of the Hells Angels.
“It’s a page of history that turns and the end of a dark chapter. It has been 12 years that we wait for the bunker to pass under the peak of the demolishers ”, welcomes the mayor of Sherbrooke, Steve Lussier.
“Demolishing such a building is very symbolic. This is a strong message that the government and the City are sending that they will not tolerate groups showing their supremacy and intimidating. We should take advantage of this demolition to adopt a provincial anti-bunker law, ”adds M e Brigitte Bishop, who is one of the prosecutors who led the fight to confiscate the bunker and who is now the patron of the Office of Inspector General. of the City of Montreal.
Protected area
After 11 years of a standoff in court, the Attorney General of Quebec was able to confiscate the fortress and the five lots – with a total area of over 113,500 square meters – making up the property, after the Supreme Court refused to hear the case a little over a year ago.
Since then, it is the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions (DPCP) who administers the property as manager of the property of others.
In April 2020, the debt to the City of Sherbrooke in unpaid taxes since the seizure during Operation SharQc on April 15, 2009 amounted to more than $ 72,000.
The spokesperson for the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions, M e Audrey Roy-Cloutier, told La Presse that the DPCP made two payments totaling $ 59,000 (for three of the five prizes) to the City of Sherbrooke per year. latest.
On Tuesday, the City of Sherbrooke told La Presse that municipal tax arrears were still $ 59,000 and that the property is valued at $ 418,000.
For its part, the DPCP had the property appraised by a chartered appraiser, who estimated the fair market value at $ 538,000.
The City of Sherbrooke refused an initial offer from the DPCP, which wanted to sell the land to it, and had the zoning changed to make it a protected zone.
“We will analyze all the options. Our intention is to sell the land to the highest bidder, always with the view that the profits from the proceeds of crime will go into the sharing fund and will be distributed to victims of crime, police forces and community prevention organizations. crime, “says M e Roy-Cloutier.
“They may well try to sell the land, but they are zoned nature and we would refuse any construction. There is no City service at this location. We are going to suggest that they make a donation to Nature Cantons-de-l’Est, ”replied Mr. Lussier, thus suggesting close negotiations.
Winged Skull Weathervane
M e Roy-Cloutier affirms that the property, a good part of which is sloping, has recently been decontaminated.
The bunker has been abandoned since 2009, so much so that it diminished the market value of the property, she said. A fire even broke out in the building last December, but the damage was limited.
After the Supreme Court announced that it would not hear the case in the spring of 2020, Hells Angels, escorted by police officers, recovered some movable property and objects that have survived time, sources told La Presse .
Among these objects, a weather vane with a winged skull, symbol of the Hells Angels, which had already been attached to the end of a pole, on the grounds of the group of bikers.
A councilor from the City of Sherbrooke campaigned in 2020 for a project for a nature park and an interpretation center on organized crime on the grounds of the old fortress, but this idea was never considered by the municipal authorities.
The former bunkers of the Hells Angels in Sorel (Montreal), Lévis (Quebec), Trois-Rivières, Saint-Basile-le-Grand (South) and Longueuil (South) were also demolished. Agreements were signed with the cities, organizations or others, but the land has never been transferred free, says M e Roy-Cloutier.
