Two suspects are in custody after a string of commercial break-ins, Winnipeg police say.
Officers were called to a restaurant on Provencher Boulevard just before 5 a.m. Monday, where they spotted a smashed window and two people inside the building.
The suspects ran out the back door, police said — one was arrested immediately, while the other allegedly sprayed a pursuing officer in the face with bear spray.
He was arrested, and the officer was treated for the effects of the spray.
Further investigation by the major crimes unit linked the two men to a rash of break-ins at more than 15 Winnipeg businesses, focused around the St. James and Provencher neighbourhoods, over a month-long period.
A 35-year-old suspect faces a whopping 17 break-and-enter charges, as well as weapon possession. He was also the subject of four outstanding warrants.
The second man, 23, has been charged with assaulting a peace officer with a weapon, assault with a weapon, two counts of weapon possession, break and enter, and was the subject of two warrants of his own.