Victoria Police have arrested Sebastian Normandin who was charged with trying to run over his ex-girlfriend and her partner with his car in Victoria.
Normandin was originally arrested in Victoria on December 27th, 2016, but was released on bail in May 2017.
The terms of his bail allowed him to live in Montreal on a promise to appear at a parole centre twice a week, along with several other conditions.
See also: Fugitive charged with attempted murder in Victoria sought by Interpol
However, as of October 2017, he fled the country and hid out in France, leading to a search by Canadian authorities as well as Interpol.
Victoria Police and partner agencies including the Regional Domestic Violence Unit then used warrants and tracking software to find out Normandin’s exact whereabouts in France.
Once he was located, there followed a lengthy, 12-month long extradition process involving Interpol, the Canadian Department of Justice and an RCMP officer stationed in France to request Normandin’s extradition back to Canada to stand trial.
Once court proceedings in France concluded and authorization from the French Prime Minister was granted, VicPD detectives flew to France on Friday, October 18th and returned Normandin to Victoria.
“This has been a very lengthy process and I’m really proud of our entire team for being dedicated to this file to ensure our community knows that we take these files very seriously,” said Detective Sergeant Shawn Robson.
“Without the amazing efforts from our community partners here on Vancouver Island as well as in France, Mr. Normandin would still be at large.”
He is currently being held in custody pending a bail hearing.
