Winnipeg police seek Good Samaritan after man dies following fight

WINNIPEG – Police are asking a bystander who tried to help a woman in an alleged domestic dispute to contact them after the man the Good Samaritan confronted died in hospital.

Police were called to the 1000 block of Notre Dame Avenue at about 5:30 p.m. May 18 about a man who had been assaulted outside a McDonald’s restaurant.

Marlon Dean Laronde, 33, who has also used the last name Hart, was taken to hospital in critical condition and he died there on Friday, a week after the assault.

Police told Global News witnesses have said Laronde and a woman were involved in a dispute outside the McDonald’s.

A bystander, apparently worried about the woman’s safety, tried to intervene and got in a fight with Laronde, police said.

The man hit Laronde and Laronde fell, suffering further injuries, police said.

The man then fled and police are now looking for him.

Police said they hope the man who intervened will decide to come forward on his own to tell them what happened.

They ask him or any other bystanders who haven’t spoken to police to call investigators at 204-986-6508.

Hymie Weinstein, a defence lawyer who is not involved with this case, said there is a provision in the criminal code, under section 34, that allows a bystander to intervene if the threat against himself and another is perceived as reasonable.

That section says a person is not guilty of an offence if they believe on reasonable grounds force is being used against them or another person, or a threat of force is being used against them or another person.

A person may legally act to protect himself or the other person, Weinstein said.

A funeral home in The Pas has posted an obituary for Laronde that just lists dates of birth and death.

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