Richard Goodridge is still trying to find a way to keep control of a downtown strip club that police are trying to shut down, the provincial liquor board was told Thursday.
The Montreal police are seeking to have the Régie des alcools, des courses et des jeux revoke Club Temptation’s liquor permit based on the argument that the downtown strip bar poses a threat to public safety.
The club’s liquor licence was temporarily suspended in April.
During three days of hearings, investigators have testified that, while the club is owned on paper by Joseph Vallera, a 61-year-old Montrealer, it is actually controlled by Goodridge, 41, a man with alleged ties to several street gangs.
Some of the investigators have testified based on information from five informants alleging that Goodridge paid between $100,000 and $500,000 for the club. Other evidence suggests some level of intimidation was involved.
But it was the last witness to testify, Det.-Sgt. Isabelle Godin Tremblay, who had the most recent intelligence concerning Goodridge. She testified that on Sunday she received information from an informant that Goodridge is still trying to find some way to keep control of the club.
"(The informant) said Richard Goodridge is looking for a new front to replace Vallera as the owner of the bar," Godin Tremblay told the board.
The detective’s testimony came at the end of a long series of evidence presented in the case.
Lawyer Véronique Courtecuisse informed Daniel Lord and Jean Robert, the Régie registrars who are hearing the case, that Vallera will present a defence at a later date, which has yet to be set.
Det.-Sgt. James Paixao, a Montreal police expert on street gangs, said Club Temptation was a volatile place before it was closed in April.
"It’s like gunpowder. It can go off at any minute. It’s very fragile," he said.
Paixao said Goodridge is known to maintain ties with street gang members from both sides of a long-standing conflict.
He added that, while gang members from both sides are seen associating more often, it’s still a potentially dangerous situation.
Paixao also detailed how two attempts have been made on Goodridge’s life over the past six years.
The first occurred on Nov. 4, 2004 in Scarborough, Ont. Goodridge’s Mercedes was ambushed in a lunchtime shooting at an intersection near three elementary schools. Goodridge lost part of an index finger in the shooting.
Then, in October 2008, someone tried to shoot Goodridge outside his Nuns’ Island home.
Paixao also testified that Goodridge was, at some point in 2005, believed to be the leader of the 67s, a street gang that previously included Ducarme Joseph among its leaders. While both men were in the same gang at one point, they are now believed to be enemies.
Joseph is believed to have been the intended target in the March 18 shooting at Flawnego, his clothing boutique in Old Montreal, which left two men dead. For reasons that have yet to be made clear, the Montreal police fear Goodridge will be the target of an imminent reply to the attempt on Joseph’s life.
Paixao said it’s common knowledge among street gangs that Goodridge is often at the Ste. Catherine St. club.
pcherry@thegazette.canwest.com
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