Meth cited in rampage that involved carjacking, assaults, police chase
Man armed himself with metal bar, smashed car window, then threatened to shoot tow-truck driver
A man is accused of going on a rampage that included assaulting employees of a convenience store — trying to force one into a bathroom — and then carjacking a tow truck.
Police believe it was all fuelled by meth.
"We do believe methamphetamine played a role in this," said police spokesman Const. Jay Murray. "It's very concerning."
The man went into a convenience store on Archibald Street near Elizabeth Road just before 9:30 a.m. Sunday and went behind the counter, where he assaulted two employees, police said.
He then tried to pull one of them into a bathroom but was unsuccessful, police said. He briefly locked himself in the bathroom and armed himself with a metal rod.
The employees, one of whom suffered minor injuries, called police, but the man left before officers arrived.
He went to a nearby parking lot and smashed the window of a parked car, police said.
He then walked over to near the intersection of Archibald Street and Elizabeth Road, where he threw the metal rod at a passing vehicle and stood in the middle of the road.
A tow truck slowed down and tried to pass the man, but he jumped into its passenger side and threatened to shoot the driver, telling him to keep driving, police said.
Officers found the tow truck a little farther south on Fermor Avenue near Archibald and tried to stop it. The driver hit the brakes and jumped out while the vehicle was still moving.
The carjacker then slid into the driver seat and sped off along Fermor for about two kilometres, police said. Police stopped the tow truck just east of Lagimodiere Boulevard, where a man was taken into custody.
"It's quite an incident — he terrorized a number of individuals," Murray said.
The driver of the tow truck who jumped out suffered minor injuries and was sent to hospital in stable condition to be looked over.
The carjacker, a 40-year-old man from Winnipeg, has been charged with:
- Assault.
- Robbery (2 counts).
- Forcible confinement.
- Mischief.
- Possession of a weapon.
- Uttering threats to cause death or bodily harm.
- Dangerous operation of a motor vehicle.
- Flight while being pursued by a peace officer.
- Driving while ability impaired.
- Failure to comply with conditions of an undertaking.