Seventy-five people are facing fines after an illegal gathering that violated COVID-19 rules in Quebec’s Lanaudière region, provincial police said Sunday.
A police spokeswoman says it was firefighters who called the authorities at about midnight Friday night to report people gathering at a house in Sainte-Beatrix, about 100 kilometres north of Montreal.
Local and provincial police arrived to find people fleeing on foot or barricading themselves in the house, according to spokeswoman Audrey-Ann Bilodeau. Two other police forces were called to help.
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Provincial police eventually obtained a warrant to enter, and found 75 people, almost all from the Greater Montreal region.
Police issued more than $135,000 worth of tickets, mostly for illegal gatherings. Currently, group gatherings in private homes are not allowed in order to stop the spread of COVID-19.
Authorities also gave about 10 tickets for violating the 9:30 p.m. curfew, and about 20 for breaking municipal bylaws such as obstructing the work of police officers.