Suspect in violent rampage was let out of recovery program

CTV BC: Questions surround carjacking crime spree Someone who knew the suspect in a violent crime spree is questioning why he was out of custody to begin with.

The Delta man accused of injuring six people during a violent rampage across Metro Vancouver should have been in treatment, according to the director of a drug and alcohol recovery program he attended last year.

Jonathan Leblanc faces 16 charges including robbery, assault with a weapon and operating a vehicle in a dangerous manner. Police allege the 30-year-old stabbed three people and committed two carjackings during a crime spree that spanned three cities and lasted five hours Sunday night.

James O’Rourke, executive director at Vision Quest Recovery Society, said Leblanc was a client in summer 2013. He told CTV News he wasn’t surprised to see video of the suspect being arrested.

“Mr. Leblanc is an addict that is out of control and has been for a good many years,” O’Rourke said.

Leblanc was at Vision Quest for 34 days before his bail supervisor gave him permission to leave, according to O’Rourke, who believes the accused should have done six full months followed by another six-month reintegration program.

“He should have not been allowed to leave,” O’Rourke said.

Police allege Leblanc rear-ended a minivan on a Richmond highway Sunday evening, injuring a family of three, including two young children.

He’s then accused of walking into a nearby home, stabbing the 60-year-old owner with a screwdriver and stealing his car.

Less than an hour later that vehicle was involved in a head-on collision in East Vancouver.

Police believe the suspect tried to rob another person at an ATM inside a TD Canada Trust bank at Kingsway and Victoria Drive, then carjacked another vehicle at a gas station and fled.

Officers located Leblanc at the bottom of a densely wooded ravine in Surrey.

He made a brief court appearance Tuesday and remains in custody. Leblanc is scheduled to appear again on Wednesday in Vancouver provincial court.

With a report from CTV British Columbia’s Norma Reid