Man remains in ICU following altercation with Saskatoon police

A man who was mistaken for another suspect remains in intensive care in a Saskatoon hospital with significant brain injuries.

That’s according to the family of 51-year-old Raymond Montgrand. He was arrested in Saskatoon on June 23. The following day, the Saskatoon Police Service (SPS) released a statement about the incident.

SPS explained that shortly after 8 p.m., members were dispatched to a report of a male wanted on warrants. He was leaving a residence in the 500 block of Avenue F South.

The man was reported to be wearing a black and white shirt and riding a bicycle. A few minutes later, responding officers spotted a suspect matching the description.

The man refused to stop and continued riding his bicycle before abandoning it on Avenue A South. He then fled on foot into a restaurant where a pursuing officer confronted him in the kitchen.

“The male referenced being in possession of a firearm,” the police statement said.

The release, dated June 24, went on to describe how the suspect exited out the back door of the restaurant, where additional officers encountered him.

“The male, who was reaching into the back of his shorts, threatened to shoot,” the release continues.

In response, an officer deployed a taser which caused the man to fall and suffer an injury. Medavie Health Services members were called to the scene and the man was transported to Royal University Hospital, described by police as being in “stable condition.”

It was then that Ryan Ratt, Montgrand’s son, travelled from Creighton to be at his dad’s bedside.

“He’s doing a little better each day but (doctors) say there’s going to be some long-term effects of what happened,” Ratt said.

Due to breathing tubes, Montgrand cannot talk. He is conscious and is able to respond to questions. With respect to the claims by police, Ratt said he has tried to ask his dad about it.

“When I asked him if he did any of those things, or said any of those things, he shook his head — no,” Ratt explained.

As a result of the injury, SPS requested the Regina Police Service to lead an investigation into the incident, along with provincial oversight. The investigation will include a review of the in-car camera video.

Police later revealed Montgrand was not the same suspect police were initially seeking but he was found to be wanted on outstanding warrants for assault with a weapon and break and enter. Ratt said he doesn’t buy that.

“Sitting next to him in his bed, it makes me sick and it pisses me off,” Ratt said.

Ratt also added the family has been told someone recorded a video of the incident. They are hoping that person will come forward.

When paNOW reached out to SPS for further comment, it replied it could not offer additional details, as this incident is under investigation by Regina police.

The incident will also be reviewed internally by the SPS’s Use-Of-Force Committee. In the meantime, the incident brings back some bad memories for the Montgrand family.

In 2008, Raymond’s sister, Jacqueline Montgrand, was shot by a member of the Prince Albert Police Service. She was carrying a knife at the time of the incident and succumbed to her injuries in hospital.

The inquiry into the Montgrand death determined officers were unable to escape the confrontation with the armed woman, and one officer fired his weapon. Referring to the incident as remarkable and unbelievable, her family questioned why police acted the way they did.

“There’s no trust with the police in this family,” Ratt said.

Nigel Maxwell, paNOW