Skip to content

Daytime carjacking a traumatic experience for resident

A terrifying situation unfolded for a local resident on Nov. 26. when a carjacking occurred within the Town of St. Paul. St.
RCMP

A terrifying situation unfolded for a local resident on Nov. 26. when a carjacking occurred within the Town of St. Paul.

St. Paul RCMP confirmed members responded to a report of a carjacking on Monday, according to a media release sent out Tuesday afternoon.

Henri deMoissac says he was ambushed, and had his keys ripped from his hands. At the time, Henri was alone, getting out of his vehicle to play pickleball at the Centre Communautaire. He was getting his duffle bag out of the vehicle, with his keys in his hand, ready to lock his vehicle, when a man grabbed at him for his key. The man overpowered Henri, and took his vehicle.

Fortunately there were people nearby, also arriving to play pickleball. They witnessed what happened and helped deMoissac, calling RCMP immediately. One resident attempted to follow the vehicle, but was notified by RCMP to stop, according to deMoissac's wife, Leona.

"(This) is not something I would wish on anybody. It was very traumatic to say the least. You don’t expect this in broad daylight," said Henri.

Thankfully, Henri only sustained a sprained finger in the ordeal and admits it could have been much worse.

After responding to the incident, St. Paul RCMP members patrolled the area in an attempt to locate the vehicle. Later in the day, Members of the Eastern Alberta District Rural Crime Reduction Unit (EADRCRU) located and intercepted the stolen vehicle on Highway 55, south of Lac La Biche, according to RCMP.

"As the vehicle entered Lac La Biche, RCMP members attempted to deploy a spike belt to disable the vehicle, but this was unsuccessful. Following this, a pursuit occurred, which went through Lac La Biche County, Athabasca County, Thorhild County, and Smoky Lake County and involved members of EADRCRU, the Lac La Biche RCMP, Boyle RCMP, Smoky Lake RCMP, Redwater and Boyle Integrated Traffic Unit (ITU), and Cold Lake Police Dog Services (PDS)," reads the release.

EADRCRU and Smoky Lake RCMP successfully deployed spike belts along Highway 831 and the vehicle became disabled at the Highway 831 and Highway 28 intersection. According to RCMP, the male driver ran on foot along Highway 28 until he was apprehended by RCMP along the road.

"No one was injured during this sequence of events outside of minor injuries to the male victim from the initial carjacking in St. Paul," says the media release.

With a long list of RCMP detachments involved in the pursuit, “Communication between the different RCMP Detachments and specialized units was crucial in the successful resolution of this incident,” said Cst. Guillaume Wilson (EADRCRU), in the media release.

Curtis Nichols, 25, of Lac La Biche has been charged with assault, robbery, dangerous driving, flight from police, and other offences, according to a second RCMP media release, dated Nov. 28. He was in custody and was scheduled to be in court Nov. 29, via CCTV.

Nichols is now scheduled to be in court in Boyle on Jan. 8, 2019, for plea.

A mental health evaluation has also been ordered, which requires him to remain in custody for 28 days, according to the media release. The police pursuit was initiated at approximately 1:40 p.m. on Nov. 26, and lasted until 2:50 p.m.


Janice Huser

About the Author: Janice Huser

Janice Huser has been with the St. Paul Journal since 2006. She is a graduate of the SAIT print media journalism program, is originally from St. Paul and has a passion for photography.
Read more



push icon
Be the first to read breaking stories. Enable push notifications on your device. Disable anytime.
No thanks