C'est ce qu'a lancé hier un proche de la victime d'un récidiviste de l'alcool au volant au suspect

Un membre de la famille d'une adolescente de 17 ans tuée par un récidiviste de l'alcool au volant a menacé le chauffard en pleine cour, lors de sa comparution au palais de justice hier.

John Willing et Stephanie Verner
Sun Media

« Tu vas payer », a-t-elle lancé à William Rémi Comeau, 51 ans, qui en était à sa première comparution devant le juge, après avoir happé la jeune Marie-Hélène Primeau au volant de sa camionnette mardi soir.

La femme a aussi eu le temps de le traiter « d'ordure de la société» avant d'être escortée vers la sortie par des agents de sécurité.

Elle a profité de cette attention pour livrer un témoignage vibrant aux membres des médias présents au palais de justice de Hull.

« Vous avez le pouvoir d'éliminer l'alcool au volant, leur a-t-elle dit. J'espère que le message passera, car Marie-Hélène était une fille formidable. »

Plusieurs arrestations
Rémi Comeau n'en est pas à sa première arrestation pour conduite en état d'ébriété. Il s'est aussi fait prendre en 1992 et en 1994.

Il devra faire face à des accusations de conduite avec les facultés affaiblies ayant causé la mort, conduite dangereuse et délit de fuite.

Selon les policiers, le délinquant avait trois fois la dose d'alcool permise dans le sang mardi lors de l'accident.

Vers 22 h, sa camionnette a happé la jeune victime alors qu'elle roulait à vélo.

D'autres victimes
Rémi Comeau a également embouti deux voitures, quelques minutes avant de frapper Marie-Hélène Primeau.

« J'ai vu une auto blanche un peu amochée en plein milieu de la rue, mais la femme dans la voiture n'avait pas l'air blessée », raconte un témoin, Kevin Lamarche.

Les deux passagers du second véhicule ont pour leur part subi des blessures mineures et ont dû être transportés à l'hôpital.

Sous le choc, les amis de la victime se sont réunis mardi soir pour partager leur peine.

30 août 2007

John Willing and Stephanie Verner
Sun Media

A repeat offender charged in the fatal drunk driving death of a 17-year-old Gatineau girl Tuesday night was confronted in court Wednesday by an angry relative.

William Remi Comeau, 51, was making his first court appearance in Hull when a female relative of Marie-Helene Primeau, who died after being struck by an out-of-control pickup truck, began yelling at him.

“You will pay for it,” the relative said in French. “You’re a piece of society’s garbage.”

Security removed the emotional woman, who did not identify herself, from the courtroom but she made an impassioned plea outside.

“You are all people who can stop drunk driving,” she told reporters. “I hope the message will get out because she (Marie-Helene) was an extraordinary girl.”

Comeau’s lawyer, Francois Boisvert, confirmed that Comeau is a repeat offender for drunk driving. He was arrested in 1992 and 1994.

He is now facing multiple charges, including impaired driving causing death, dangerous driving and leaving the scene of a collision. He will appear in court again Friday for a bail hearing.

Police say Comeau had three times the legal blood alcohol limit Tuesday when he was arrested after a GMC pickup truck smashed into Marie-Helene Primeau, as she was biking on the Lady Aberdeen bridge in Gatineau just before 10 p.m.

Scratch marks on the bridge’s pavement pointed to the path of destruction caused by the pickup. One mark started in the lane for oncoming traffic before it stretched into the eastbound lane and onto the sidewalk.

The carnage started in front of the McDonald’s on Greber Blvd., just north of the bridge.

Gatineau police believe the pickup truck smashed into a car there before continuing down Greber Blvd. and onto the bridge.

Kevin Lamarche, who was near the McDonald’s on Tuesday, said he noticed a white car in the middle of the road with damage to its left side. The woman who was with the car “didn’t look injured,” Lamarche, 18, said.

Police said the pickup struck a second vehicle on the bridge before jumping onto the cycle path and striking Marie-Helene.

Paramedics rushed her to hospital, where she died.

Two people who were in the second vehicle received minor injuries, police said.

Nadia Berube, 19, said she walked over the bridge toward Greber Blvd. on Tuesday night when the truck came down Greber.

“We just crossed the road and the truck hit the sign just beside us,” Berube said. “We thought he hit another car.” Police responded immediately and arrested Comeau on the bridge.

Construction has forced traffic to merge into a two-lane road, but “it’s not the reason for the death,” said Const. Isabelle Poirier.

There is a narrow lane beside the sidewalk for bicycle traffic, but Poirier didn’t know if Marie-Helene was riding in the lane or on the sidewalk.

Friends of Marie-Helene were in shock yesterday.

Adrian Large, 17, went to high school with Marie-Helene at Le College Saint-Alexandre.

He said Marie-Helene had “an artist’s soul,” which is why she wanted to study arts in post-secondary school.

“She’s an amazing person, a real free-spirit,” Adrian said, adding that Marie-Helene was “always giggling and laughing.”

One mother, whose daughter is a close friend of Marie-Helene, said other friends gathered Wednesday night to grieve.

30 août 2007

William Rémy Comeau
photo : Mike Carroccetto

« An extraordinary girl »

Motorist drank all day at Gatineau strip club; convicted twice before with impaired driving

Jean-Francois Bertrand, Andrew Seymour, Katie Daubs and Alana Toulin

Marie-Hélène Primeau, 17 years old and days away from starting her studies at an Ottawa art college, was on her bike on the Lady Aberdeen Bridge on Tuesday night when she was struck and killed by a pickup truck.

The man behind the wheel had three times the legal limit of alcohol in his bloodstream after spending the day drinking at a Gatineau strip bar, a Crown prosecutor said yesterday.

Rémi William Comeau, who faces eight charges in connection with a series of collisions that night, has been convicted for drunk driving twice before, his defence lawyer said.

Yesterday afternoon, Mr. Comeau, a 51-year-old Gatineau construction worker, appeared before a judge. While in the courtroom, he was confronted by a member of the dead girl's family.

Standing up to face the accused, an angry cousin told Mr. Comeau he was "garbage to society" who had taken a beautiful life.

"You will pay, she was an extraordinary girl," said the young relative, as she was taken away by court security.

Denise Georgovich, who watched Mr. Comeau being handcuffed after his truck first hit her car and then hit the young cyclist, said he was so drunk "he couldn't walk in a straight line."

Mr. Comeau, a short man with white hair, stood still when he learned that the Crown would object to his release at his bail hearing, which will take place tomorrow morning. Mr. Comeau did not enter a plea on the eight charges, which include two counts of impaired driving causing bodily harm, dangerous driving causing bodily harm, dangerous driving causing death, flight causing bodily harm, impaired driving and driving while over the legal limit.

Mr. Comeau's lawyer, François Boisvert, who plans to meet his client in jail this afternoon, said that in 1992, Mr. Comeau was fined in an impaired driving incident and two years later served 14 days of detention for a second conviction.

"My client is serene," said Mr. Boisvert. "He is aware of the charges. I explained them to him."

Sylvain Petitclerc, the Crown prosecutor who opposed Mr. Comeau's release yesterday, said police have collected evidence indicating that the man spent most of the day at a Gatineau strip club prior to the crash.

Yesterday, staff and customers at Club Taboo on Gréber Boulevard said they remember Mr. Comeau showing up in the bar at around noon and not leaving until more than nine hours later.

Club Taboo regular Louis Mercier said Mr. Comeau sat drinking at the other end of the bar from him.

"He made a few girls dance," said Mr. Mercier, adding Mr. Comeau made several trips to the club's champagne rooms. "The girls were happy, they were getting their money."

But after 9 p.m., Mr. Comeau was asked to leave, said one of the club's dancers.

"He got in a fight with one of the dancers when he didn't have enough money to pay her," said the dancer, who goes by the stage name Jeriaca.

"The manager was in the process of telling him to leave, go home, the usual stuff," she said. "We were all making fun of him when he got here because he could hardly walk. It was like he had been on a drinking binge all day."

Gatineau police Const. Isabelle Poirier said charges had not been laid against the bar.

"It's the responsibility of every driver to not drink and drive," she said.

The first in the series of crashes that was to ensue took place only metres from the strip club. There, the GMC Sierra pickup truck struck the rear of a car on Gréber Boulevard and then kept going, police said.

Police were responding to a call about that crash when calls started to come in about other crashes farther west on the bridge.

Nadia Bérubé, 19, said she had just walked across the bridge with two friends when she saw a pickup truck slam into a construction sign.

"The truck hit the sign just behind us and then we heard the crash farther down the bridge," she said.

"He crashed right into (the sign) and continued going on," said Ms. Bérubé, adding a police car with it's emergency lights raced past them a few seconds later. "Maybe if we were like 50 seconds later we would have got hit."

The next object in the path of the truck was a Mazda, driven by 19-year-old Renée Georgovich. She said was shocked to see the truck's headlights heading toward her in her lane. She swerved into the other lane on the two-lane bridge, but then the truck changed lanes, too. Eventually, the truck hit Ms. Georgovich's car, glancingly, but enough to leave her and her mother with non-life threatening injuries.

The truck then went on to it's final crash.

Marie-Hélène Primeau was riding in a dedicated bicycle and pedestrian area along the side of the road when the pick-up struck swerved into her, Gatineau police said.

Witnesses said the collision crushed her bicycle under the front end of the truck and pinned the 17-year-old against the bridge's concrete barrier.

Mr. Petitclerc, the Crown prosecutor, said he didn't want to let Mr. Comeau out on bail because of the seriousness of the case.

"Mr. Comeau had three times the legal limit. In these kind of cases, we take people's safety very seriously, we're concerned with the public's safety," he said. "Committing a similar offence is easy."

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