Albert Lisacek (July 13, 1933 – November 20, 2012), also known as " Kojak", was a Montreal policeman involved in a number of high-profile cases. He was considered by some to be Canada's toughest cop. The son of Czechoslovakian immigrants Mary and Joseph Lisacek, he was born in Montreal near "

The Main Saint Laurent Boulevard, also known as Saint Lawrence Boulevard (officially in french: boulevard Saint-Laurent), is a major street in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. A commercial artery and cultural heritage site, the street runs north–south through ...

". After being chased by group of bullies at the age of fifteen, he decided on a career in policing. He first worked as a private detective and joined the Sûreté du Québec in 1956. In 1963, Lisacek became a member of the holdup squad. He was known for bringing his

Thompson submachine gun The Thompson submachine gun (also known as the "Tommy Gun", "Chicago Typewriter", "Chicago Piano", “Trench Sweeper” or "Trench Broom") is a blowback-operated, air-cooled, magazine-fed selective-fire submachine gun, invented by United Stat ...

with him while breaking down doors during raids. His methods of dealing with criminals sometimes fell outside of the law. In a 2008 interview, Lisacek remarked that if he was a policeman now, he would be shown the door on his first day on the job. French criminal Jacques Mesrine planned to ambush Lisacek at a restaurant where the policeman frequently ate but Lisacek changed his routine. Lisacek was on the scene when Pierre Laporte's body was discovered in October 1970 and later when three of the

Front de libération du Québec The (FLQ) was a Marxist–Leninist and Quebec separatist guerrilla group. Founded in the early 1960s with the aim of establishing an independent and socialist Quebec through violent means, the FLQ was considered a terrorist group by the Canadia ...

kidnappers were arrested. In 1972, Lisacek shot at a thief fleeing a robbery in

Verdun Verdun (, , , ; official name before 1970 ''Verdun-sur-Meuse'') is a large city in the Meuse department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department. Verdun is the biggest city in Meuse, although the capital ...

and accidentally castrated him. He was present at the 1975 raid where

Richard Blass Richard Blass (October 24, 1945 – January 24, 1975) was an infamous Canadian gangster and a multiple murderer. Born in Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, seco ...

was gunned down by police. After a string of killings, Blass was located in a chalet in Val-David, in a region called Laurentides, north of Montreal. Lisacek reportedly allowed Blass time to put his pants on. When Blass exited the bedroom, police opened fire; the official explanation was that Blass had been armed, but in 2010, Lisacek told a journalist that Blass had only been 'wielding' a sock. Following this incident, Lisacek was assigned to a desk job. He left the force in 1981. A character based on Lisacek appeared in the 2006 television miniseries about events from the

October Crisis The October Crisis (french: Crise d'Octobre) refers to a chain of events that started in October 1970 when members of the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) kidnapped the provincial Labour Minister Pierre Laporte and British diplomat James C ...

, '' October, 1970'' . Lisacek married his first wife Claudia in 1962; she died in 1999. He later married Jacqueline Richer. He died in Montreal from cancer at the age of 79. Lisacek claimed "I was good at getting rid of the bad people".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lisacek, Albert 1933 births 2012 deaths Canadian police officers Canadian people of Czech descent People from Montreal Deaths from cancer in Quebec