Canada - Man faces 5 charges after homemade bomb found

OFF THE WIRE
NOTE -
Although police say the stop was random, they ended up searching the car and finding the bomb in the trunk. Although it wasn't assembled, all the components were found in plain sight inside the trunk, police said...

Justin Sadler
 torontosun.com
Hells Angels MC
OTTAWA - Chad Baillargeon's life was spinning out of control by the time cops stopped him in a car allegedly laden with a pipe bomb.
The 35-year-old father of two, who's been estranged from his two sons for some time after a nasty separation, learned recently he has cancer, according to friends, and that he could die because of it. Since then, friends say he's been in a desperate struggle to find something to grasp onto as life as he knows it slips away from him.
Known to run with a rough crowd, he's been making one bad decision after another, a few friends told QMI Agency Thursday.
"Stupid actions lead to stupid results," one friend said.
Baillargeon was arrested Jan. 4 after being pulled over in a Glebe traffic stop in downtown Ottawa. He was brought up on five weapons charges Thursday after a brief court appearance on two unrelated weapons charges.
Police released the passenger riding in the car when Baillargeon was arrested.
Entering court in a grey T-shirt with a long-sleeve prison jumpsuit underneath, the tall, stocky, tattooed man looked around the room quickly, only saying his name before speaking quietly with his lawyer, Jeff Langevin.
The Crown asked for three days so police could continue their investigation.
As his case was adjourned, Baillargeon looked around the room again before his eyes met the lone friend who came out to support him.
"What can I say? He's my friend, I love him," the friend told QMI. "He's not perfect, he's got a past just like the rest of us. But he's been dealt some really s---ty cards."
Baillargeon's rap sheet dates back to 1998 when he was handed a year of probation for possession of property obtained by crime.
In 2002, he was sentenced to two years in prison and given a 10-year weapons prohibition after break-and-enter and other weapons charges.
He's reportedly an associate of the Hells Angels and allegedly ran errands for the Gatineau, Que., chapter of the biker gang, according to sources. The bomb was allegedly intended to bolster his standing in the gang, the sources said. However, the target of the bomb is not clear.
Though police said the explosives found Tuesday were discovered during a random traffic stop, QMI Agency has learned Baillargeon was targeted. The car he was driving was not his own but one he and others used to run errands, according to a source.
"Who carries bomb parts in plain view?" the source said. "The only reason they (police) had to open the trunk was because they knew there was something inside."
Friends of Baillargeon spoke highly of him when contacted by phone and said his life has collapsed in recent months. Many expressed shock at the charges he faces and said he was trying to get out of the biker life so he could be a father to his kids.
"That's not the Chad I know," one said. "I know he's going through hell right now."
Originally from Kitchener, Ont., Baillargeon has spent much of his life in Ottawa and across the river in Gatineau, where he was living at the time of his arrest. He used to run a pawnshop there, friends said.

Baillargeon will be back in court for a bail hearing Jan. 10.
justin.sadler@sunmedia.ca