A 40-year-old man has been charged following a string of violent robberies and carjackings over the weekend in Winnipeg.
On Saturday at roughly 12:30 p.m., the man walked into a business in the 1000 block of Nairn Avenue. He allegedly threatened a cashier with a lighter but ran away without receiving any money.
Fifteen minutes later, he allegedly confronted a woman in her 80s sitting in her vehicle nearby. Police said he pulled her out of the vehicle, threw her to the ground, threatened to stab her, and then drove away in her vehicle. Police said the woman suffered serious injuries.
The next day, the man allegedly confronted a woman at a business at 5:45 a.m. in the 1600 block of Regent Avenue West, tried to steal her vehicle, and threw her to the ground. He could not start the vehicle and ran away, stealing the woman’s purse. The woman suffered minor injuries.
At roughly 7:30 a.m., the man entered a business in the same area and told a woman something was wrong with her parked vehicle. While she was outside, the man allegedly punched her several times in the upper body, threatened to kill her, and stole her vehicle.
“These attacks were random, and all occurred in the general area,” said Const. Pat Saydack with the Winnipeg Police Service.
The stolen vehicle was found unoccupied in the 500 block of Selkirk Avenue, and the suspect was arrested in the area.
The suspect, who is from Winnipeg, was charged with four counts of robbery and one count each of aggravated assault, uttering threats, and possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000.
He remains in custody.