Police are searching for two suspects who apparently can’t drive standard after a violent but ultimately failed carjacking in the Polo Park area early Wednesday.
Officers were first called to a business parking lot on Portage Avenue near Polo Park around 4 a.m. after two employees reported two men had tried to break into each of their vehicles.
The victims told police they had each been sitting in their separate vehicles after arriving for work when they noticed two men on bikes checking car door handles in the lot.
Both men honked their horns — trying to scare off the suspects — but one man said the pair instead came up to his car and tried to break-in before he was able to drive away.
The second man said one of the suspects came over to his truck and lifted his shirt to show what looked to be a gun handle in his waistband before the suspects took off on their bikes.
As they searched the area police say they were flagged down by a third man, who was injured in another nearby parking lot on Portage Avenue.
- 2 teens charged with murder in case of 16-year-old killed outside Halifax mall
- Green Party deputy leader given jail sentence for Fairy Creek old growth protests
- Cars torched, explosions heard in suspected arson in Montreal neighbourhood
- Gas station clerk stabbed several times during violent attack at Ultramar in Montreal
The man said he had been attacked by two men on bikes who tried to take off with his vehicle after stabbing him in the leg. He was taken to hospital in stable condition.
Police say the suspects couldn’t drive away because the vehicle had a standard transmission.
Police are now looking for two male suspects, one described as a man in his mid-20s, who was wearing a black-coloured baseball cap, a black half mask, and a black coloured jacket.
The second suspect is only described as a young adult male.
Anyone with information is asked to call the major crime unit at 204-986-6219 or Crime Stoppers at 204-786-TIPS.
‘Practice situational awareness’
The carjacking is the third police have been called to across the city so far this week.
On Monday police arrested a teenage girl after a pair of suspects pulled a man out of his car and ran him over as they drove away in a North End back lane.
The girl was later found stuck in a garbage can where she’d tried to hide after a chase with police.
Police are still searching for another carjacking suspect after an SUV was stolen — with an elderly man still in the vehicle — outside the Health Sciences Centre Monday morning.
In that case, a 59-year-old man told police he had been unloading items out of the SUV when a suspect confronted him and drove off with the vehicle, with his 88-year-old father still in the passenger seat.
The man was able to escape from the stolen vehicle with minor injuries, but police are still on the lookout for the carjacker, who they say rammed a police car before ditching the SUV.
Anyone with information about that case is also asked to call the major crimes unit.
On Wednesday police said Winnipeggers need to be extra cautious during the COVID-19 outbreak because criminals may be taking advantage of the fact that there are far fewer people on the streets.
“Practice situational awareness. Look around,” police said in a statement Wednesday.
“If anything … doesn’t feel right, get to a place of safety.”
Comments