Montreal North man suspects he was racially profiled by cops in traffic stop

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A Montreal North man says he suspects he was racially profiled after he was ticketed for driving without a valid licence and arrested for obstruction, despite showing police an official document saying he is allowed to drive.

Jeff Guervil, 23, said Montreal police stopped him around 7 p.m. on Aug. 12 near the corner of Industriel Blvd. and Jean-Meunier Ave. while on he was on his way to a football practice, handcuffed him and placed him in the back of a police car for about two hours. He said police also seized his car and gave his mother a ticket as she filmed the scene on her phone.

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“I feel really bad, I feel humiliated, because it’s not me, I’m not that kind of person, I’m a good person,” he said, adding that he has struggled to focus since the incident. “I don’t want this situation to happen in the future with other people in Montreal North, because it’s something that happens often and we want it to stop.”

Guervil, who is Black, said he was told he’d been stopped because the driver’s licence associated with his licence plate was suspended, but he said that wasn’t true and he was carrying a document issued by the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec for that very purpose.

According to that letter, a copy of which was seen by The Gazette, an unspecified issue has prevented the SAAQ from updating the status of his drivers licence in its systems. The letter states that he’s allowed to drive and that if he’s stopped by police, he should show them the letter.

Guervil said officers spent about half an hour verifying the letter, and when they returned, he says they told him they thought the document was fake and asked him to step out of his car. He said he was then quickly handcuffed and placed in the back seat of a police vehicle.

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“They arrested me for no reason,” he told reporters.

He said he was initially given two tickets, including one for driving with a restricted licence — which carries a fine of more than $1,000 with fees — and another for obstruction under the Highway Safety Code. He said police later took back the second ticket and told him he would face a Criminal Code charge of obstruction.

During the stop, Guervil called his mother, Sheila Dragon. She arrived after he had been placed in a police vehicle and immediately began filming with her phone. 

Less than three minutes after she arrived, the video shows, three police officers approached her after she walked around the scene and stepped onto a part of the road blocked by multiple police cars. They gave her a $50 ticket for not walking on the sidewalk.

Dragon, who became overcome by emotion as she recounted the events of that evening, said her son isn’t a criminal.

“I haven’t been able to sleep since the 12th, I can’t sleep, I can’t eat, because I’m scared for the safety of my son and for myself,” she said. “My son’s future is threatened.”

Guervil, a linebacker, dreams of playing football in the United States, but that might not be possible with a criminal charge, she said.

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“I want justice for me and my child, justice,” she said.

At the end of the stop, police seized Guervil’s 2017 Ford Fusion.

In an Aug. 15 letter seen by The Gazette, an SAAQ official wrote to Guervil that the seizure should never have happened and told him he could collect his car from the impound lot without charge.

Dragon and Guervil said the day after the stop, they saw one of the officers involved, who told Guervil to go to the local police station to talk to the supervisor. But Guervil said he’s now too afraid to go to a police station.

Fo Niemi, the executive director of the Center for Research-Action on Race Relations, said the excessive police response to what should have been a routine traffic stop and the escalation of the situation by police are some of the hallmarks of racial profiling.

“There was nothing in the circumstances and nothing in his behaviour that would justify the intervention of five police cars, up to 10 police officers,” he said.

He said complaints will be filed with the police ethics commissioner and the human rights commission and that his organization will work with Guervil to fight the criminal charge.

Montreal police declined to comment on the incident, saying they want to avoid influencing any eventual judicial, ethics or disciplinary process, and that people who feel they were mistreated during a police stop can file a formal complaint.

jserebrin@postmedia.com

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