STOLEN CAR HITS CANADIAN OFFICER
Police fired at least one shot at a man driving a suspected stolen car that hit a police officer in the city's North End Monday night. The officer is in hospital in stable condition. "I heard squealing tires, the impact from a crash and then heard two gunshots," said a man named Jim who lives on College Avenue. "One cop was on his knees bent over and the other cop was on the ground."
The stolen auto unit tried to stop a suspected stolen car at College Avenue and Sinclair Street after 8 p.m., Winnipeg police Sgt. Kelly Dennison said.
When the driver wouldn't pull over and drove right into one of the officers, a shot was fired by police, he said. "They (the suspects) did everything they could not to be stopped and the suspects were able to flee," Dennison said. "One of our officers was hit by (the) vehicle."
The suspect vehicle took off, tracked by police. Police officers converged on and searched a backyard about five kilometres northwest on Haddon Road near Tallman Street shortly after 9 p.m., and took a suspect into custody. Diego and Michelle Moncado, who live at 27 Haddon, said they saw a few police officers approach and search their backyard, which backs onto another home.
Michelle said she saw as many as 20 police on the scene, some with guns drawn. She said they pulled a young man, who looked about 17 years old, out from behind their home, pinned him against a police cruiser, handcuffed him and placed him in the cruiser. "They were pretty quiet in what they were doing," Deigo said, adding the couple put their two young children in the basement for safety.
What the young mother saw was confirmed by Trent Despins, who rushed to the scene with two of his friends to see what was happening. "I thought it was a drug bust at first," the teenager said, adding the suspect who police placed in the car was wearing a black shirt with white stripes. Despins said the teen he saw arrested by police didn't resist them in any way.
Police could not be reached last night to confirm whether other suspects had been arrested. They canvassed the neighbourhood where the officer was hit by the car, knocking on doors to find potential witnesses. Neighbours came out of their houses to see why about half a dozen police cars had blocked off access to Sinclair Street between College and Mountain avenues. Inside the police tape, a white sport utility vehicle was parked with both the passenger and driver side doors open.
"I was cleaning upstairs with my daughter and I heard this big bang," said a woman who lives beside where the crash took place, before police brought her inside to talk. "I looked out the window and I saw lots of cops.
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