Two Winnipeg men are facing a slew of charges, including for assaulting police, after a string of offences Saturday afternoon.
Police said the series of events started to unfold shortly after 1 p.m., when a suspect went to a house in the Booth neighbourhood and asked for water. While the person in the house went to get water, the man stole keys to a truck and other property, then stole the vehicle and took off.
An hour-and-a-half later, the suspect stopped at a gas station with the stolen truck, police said, and tried to pay with a card he found inside the vehicle. The transaction failed, and he was asked to leave the store, but he forced his way back in, tried to attack the employee, stole some merchandise, and fled again.
Around 3 p.m, the stolen truck was driven through a wooden fence in the 200 block of Point West Way.
An hour later, the suspect, joined by a second man, stopped at a grocery store on Bison Drive and stole a number of items.
Police officers at the store tried to arrest the man, who resisted and ran back to the truck. The officers followed and were hit by the truck, at which point both men drove off.
One officer was taken to hospital and later released.
Later that afternoon, the stolen vehicle was driven through metal gates at a Chevrier Boulevard business, which is where police found the two suspects hiding. The truck was recovered, but had “sustained extensive damage to the entire vehicle.”
The two suspects, 44 and 28, are in custody on charges including assaulting a peace officer with a weapon, theft, mischief, robbery, auto theft, weapons possession, and more.
The Major Crimes Unit continues to investigate.