Group of 5, including teen and children, attacked with bear spray following collision

A 33-year-old man faces five counts of assault with a weapon after Winnipeg police say he used bear spray on a group of people following a collision on Saturday.

The man had collided with another vehicle while driving on Ellice Avenue, which resulted in a minor collision that led to an argument, police said in a Sunday news release.

The man followed the vehicle that was hit into a nearby parking lot on Kennedy Street and Qu'Appelle Avenue and later spit in the direction of the 31-year-old driver while he and a 33-year-old woman, who was the passenger, were exiting the vehicle to observe the damage, the release said.

The man took out a can of bear spray and sprayed it on the driver and passenger. 

At the time, one of the victims' windows to the vehicle was open, so the bear spray also affected a teenager and two children under five years old, the release said.

Police were called to the Central Park neighbourhood at 5:45 p.m. and found the man alleged to have been involved in the incident.

Police arrested the man, who was in the driver's seat of his vehicle at the time, and seized a canister of bear spray. 

Police said none of the victims required medical attention and they did not previously know the man involved in the incident. 

The man was charged with assault with a weapon and possession of a weapon.

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