Montreal police arrest 38-year-old man linked to Metro pepper spray incident

Montreal police arrested a 38-year-old man Tuesday in connection to the pepper spray incident that brought much of the city's Metro network to a standstill during rush hour earlier this month.

Montreal police spokesperson Jean-Pierre Brabant said the Jan. 9 incident was caught on surveillance camera, showing a man discharging pepper spray inside the Champ-de-Mars Metro station.

A total of nine people were treated because the noxious fumes, most suffering from minor symptoms such as coughing and sore throats.

"Investigators looked at the surveillance cameras and had a good idea who was the suspect, but, from there, we needed to locate that suspect," said Brabant.

A description of the suspect was sent out to all of the officers on the island and, he said, "officers sent the tips to our investigators, which helped in the course of the investigation."

Once found, police arrested the man and transported him to a detention centre, said Brabant, who did not specify the charges the suspect will face.

On Jan. 9 at about 8 a.m., the suspect got into an altercation with another man inside the Metro, said Brabant, and that is when he allegedly sprayed the chemical irritant — sending two to hospital and paralyzing three Metro lines.

Thousands of people were delayed by the shutdown as crews worked to ventilate the Metro tunnels.

"We have a lot of officers who are on duty inside the Metro that assuring the security of everybody inside the Metro," said Brabant.

If a transit user sees something like pepper spray being deployed, Brabant said it is best to get out of the Metro as quickly as possible.

If people are concerned about another rider's behaviour, he recommends alerting an officer to the situation, contacting Metro staff or calling 911, he said.