July 16, 2019

www.cbc.ca

As driver of stolen car was being arrested, second man stole police cruiser and sped away, police say.

A smashed vehicle, with broken pieces scattered around an intersection and against a building, was the focus of a large police presence after a wild Monday night in northeast Winnipeg.

“This is an incredibly chaotic scene” that included officers shooting guns, stolen vehicles, a rammed police car that was later stolen, a building smashed into, and “multiple, multiple [police] units in the area,” Winnipeg police spokesperson Const. Rob Carver said.

“I’m shocked at the whole thing. Really shocked.”

It all started just before 9 p.m. when officers patrolling the neighbourhood spotted a vehicle that had been reported stolen driving near Munroe Avenue and Watt Street.

As police pursued it, the vehicle came to a dead-end lot. The cruiser pulled in to block the vehicle, which turned and drove directly at the officers, who fired guns in response, Carver said.

The stolen vehicle rammed the police car, moved it out of the way and sped off. A short distance away, the vehicle slammed into a building at the corner of Watt Street and Larsen Avenue.

Police arrived moments later and used “a significant amount of force,” including a Taser, to arrest a male inside, Carver said.

The force was required because the male — whose age police have not yet released — was resisting arrest and fighting off the officers, Carver said.

During that commotion, a second male that had been in the car but escaped before police arrived, snuck into the parked police cruiser and drove off.

The stolen cruiser was driven through the area until it was abandoned near Harbison Avenue and Glenwood Crescent. That male has not been caught.

Carver did not have a description of that second male and said it is not yet clear which of them was behind the wheel of the original vehicle.

Carver hoped to have more information once charges were laid. Those are still being worked out because there are numerous offences, he said.

No one was seriously injured during the violent night, Carver added, noting the shots fired by the officers did not strike either of the males

As for the theft of the cruiser, it has prompted the police service to re-examine its protocols, he said.

“It’s concerning and certainly, we’re looking at not only policies, but systems to see whether or not we can make some changes that will limit that from happening again,” Carver said.

Less than a month ago, another Winnipeg police cruiser was stolen during a high-speed chase that ended near Portage la Prairie.