Before Wednesday, a second-year Queen’s student never would have thought he’d receive death threats over a pizza, let alone a single slice.
After picking up a Little Caesar’s Hot and Ready pepperoni pizza at around 6 p.m., the student was confronted in the University District by two men, 34-year-old Marc J. Lesarge and 36-year-old Clayton C. Woodman, who threatened his life if he didn’t hand over a slice of pizza.
“What I thought while it happened? Mostly just confusion as to why they were so demanding over something [of] such small value,” said the student, who asked to remain anonymous because he may have to appear in court.
“I don’t feel unsafe in the student ghetto,” he added. “It was clearly a rare incident.” Prior to the pizza robbery, the two men had attempted to start an altercation with another victim, walking from Johnson to Brock Street. When the victim approached Brock St., Lesarge picked up a nearby, partially full can of beer and threw it, striking the victim in the chest.
The victim was able to get into a residence to avoid further confrontation. The Kingston Police Force (KPF) weren’t contacted after this initial incident, which took place at 5:30 p.m., but found out about it through later investigation.
Both Lesarge and Woodman have prior convictions in Kingston. In 2011, Lesarge was convicted of possessing a weapon for a “purpose dangerous to the public peace”, and Woodman was convicted in 2009 of having possession of a restricted weapon — a can of bear spray — violating a specific court order and violating probation.
The Kingston Whig-Standard reported that the men had a history of mental health issues and substance abuse.
According to KPF Media Relations Officer Steve Koopman, there was no indication in the police reports that the men were under the influence of any drugs at the time, but some students who witnessed the arrest said the suspects appeared to be intoxicated.
Lesarge and Woodman entered Stauffer Library at around 6:30 p.m.
Audrey Rott and Shauna Waters, both ArtSci ’17, were sitting near the stairwell on the second floor of the library when they saw the two men apprehended by Campus Security. Both students said the men appeared to be under the influence of drugs.
Nick Balan, ArtSci ’17, had just made it to the second floor before the two men were arrested. He said he saw them wandering around the floor carrying large bags, and his friend told him that there’d been two men shouting and kicking tables in the fireplace room.
Shortly after the two men were met at the library by Campus Security, police arrived at the library to meet the perpetrators on the stairs leading to the second floor.
Police advised the accused they were being detained and eventually arrested them for robbery, causing a disturbance and other offences. Both men continued to shout, but eventually Lesarge cooperated with officers. Woodman began actively resisting arrest and had to be restrained before being handcuffed.
The two men were held overnight to attend a bail hearing yesterday, where they were later remanded into custody with future court dates. Both have been charged with robbery and two counts of causing a disturbance. Lesarge has also been charged with assault, assault with a weapon and breach of officer-in-charge undertaking.
The student, although a bit shaken up from the event, said he was able to walk away with a new appreciation for “the little things in life”.
“Still got to finish the rest of the pizza, though,” he said, “so that was a positive.”
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