Mafia Leader's Wife and Sons Assaulted During Home Invasion, Arrests Made

Two men have been charged with breaking into the Laval home of Montreal Mafia leader Francesco (Chit) Del Balso and assaulting his wife and two of his sons.

The break-in occurred late Saturday morning in Laval’s Vimont district and made headlines over the weekend after two suspects in the break-in were arrested when the car they were in was pulled over, just off Highway 440 in Laval on an exit to Highway 13 north. The arrests made headlines because one of the arresting officers shot and killed a dog when it exited the car after it was pulled over.

The Laval police were responding to a report of a break-in at a house on Antoine Forestier St. when they began the pursuit. It now turns out that the house is the home of Francesco Del Balso, 47, a man who was revealed to be a leader in the Montreal Mafia between roughly 2002 and 2006 while the Rizzuto organization was targeted in a major RCMP investigation dubbed Project Colisée. Evidence gathered in Project Colisée revealed Del Balso was the man other leaders could rely on when they needed a problem solved quickly.

The charges filed against the two men arrested on Saturday — Marc Laflamme Berthelot, 33, and David Cormier, 25, both of Montreal, allege they pointed a firearm at Del Balso’s wife and his two sons. One of Del Balso’s sons is in his 20s, the other is 12. The men are also charged with assaulting, robbing and threatening the woman and her older son during the break-in. The charges indicate Del Balso was not home when the men, who were wearing masks, broke into his home.

Both men are also charged with driving in a way that was dangerous to public safety.  They made a brief appearance before a judge at the Laval courthouse on Monday and were ordered detained for a bail hearing.

In another twist to the story, Francesco Del Balso was arrested by the Laval police Saturday afternoon as a result of the break-in for an alleged breach of a conditional release he was granted in February 2016 on the 15-year sentence he received after he pleaded guilty to several charges related to Project Colisée. It is possible that Del Balso will be returned to a penitentiary for the alleged breach of his release.

Thanks to Paul Cherry.