A Montréal-Nord family says police used excessive force after a noise complaint at a 74th birthday party ended with pepper spray and a hospital visit.
A Montréal-Nord family has taken a complaint to Quebec oversight bodies after a backyard birthday party for a 74-year-old grandmother ended with pepper spray, an ambulance call and allegations that police used excessive force.
Faetienot Estimé, the youngest of four children in the family, says the confrontation began last September when two officers responded to a noise complaint at the family’s longtime home, where three generations had gathered for a barbecue. He says relatives co-operated and lowered the music after officers arrived at about 9 p.m.
About an hour later, several officers returned and the encounter escalated, according to the family. Estimé said he tried to intervene when he saw his mother speaking with an officer near the side of the home, then called for his 77-year-old father after being told not to get involved.
Estimé alleges an officer discharged pepper spray directly into his father’s eyes. His mother was also allegedly sprayed and scraped her knee after being pushed by an officer. “There were kids in the party, there were elders in the party. Everybody got pepper sprayed,” he told CBC News.
His father, Joseph Raphaël Estimé, was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital and spent several hours there. CBC reported reviewing photos from the aftermath showing people dealing with the effects of pepper spray, medical responders at the scene and Estimé’s father in a hospital bed.
The case has surfaced at a tense moment for policing in the borough. Earlier this June, nearly nine months after the party, the family received a $158 ticket for “making noise in a private place.” CBC reported the ticket was issued by an officer with Station 39, the same Montréal-Nord police station where 16 officers are now under investigation for alleged racist and hateful acts against Black and Arab individuals.
Montreal police declined to comment on the family’s allegations, saying they did not want to influence any possible judicial, ethical or disciplinary proceedings.
With help from the Center for Research-Action on Race Relations, Estimé has filed a complaint with Quebec’s Human Rights Commission and the Police Ethics Commissioner. The complaint alleges excessive use of force, abuse of police power and discriminatory treatment. It has not yet been heard by either body, and his parents are planning to file their own complaint.
The family believes race was a factor in how officers treated them. Joseph Raphaël Estimé, who is originally from Haiti and has lived in Canada for more than 50 years, said the episode was unlike anything he had experienced. “This is not normal. It’s excessive,” he said.
Fo Niemi, executive director of CRARR, told CBC the organization has received numerous complaints from Montréal-Nord residents, particularly young Black men, involving alleged excessive use of force by police. He said many people hesitate to file formal complaints because they do not trust the system.
Complaints alleging racism and profiling against Quebec police nearly doubled last year, reaching 493 cases, according to the 2024-25 annual report from the province’s Police Ethics Commissioner. Six went to the police ethics tribunal, and two resulted in an officer being found in the wrong.
The Estimé complaint now moves through oversight channels as the broader investigation involving Station 39 continues.
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