A workplace injury sparked a drug addiction that led a Winnipeg man to a life of increasingly violent crime, which culminated in a high-speed police chase and a lengthy prison sentence.
Ricardo Miguel Gomes will spend up to a decade in custody for trying to shoot a stranger in the face while stealing his car, a provincial court judge ruled last week.
“For this offence, a significant sentence is required to drive home the message to Mr. Gomes, and other like-minded individuals, that these orders are serious and their breach will be met with heavy sanctions,” Judge Darcie Yale wrote in her decision.
Gomes pleaded guilty to discharging a firearm with intent, possession of a weapon contrary to an order and flight from a peace officer. The offences date back to the evening of Dec. 14.
Gomes was 34 and grappling with drug addiction when he approached the victim outside an apartment building near a busy Winnipeg street, court documents show.
Wearing a mask and wielding a gun, Gomes demanded the 23-year-old man hand over his vehicle keys and a gold chain.
“Fearing for his personal safety and being familiar with firearms, (the victim)… lunged towards Mr. Gomes in an attempt to release the magazine from the firearm. Mr. Gomes fired the gun. The bullet narrowly missed the victim’s face,” Yale said.
The man was able to remove the gun’s magazine and ran. Gomes pursued him in the stolen vehicle and demanded the return of the magazine, but fled when the victim refused, he said.
Roughly four hours later, Winnipeg Police Service officers spotted the stolen vehicle near Sherbrook Street and Ellice Avenue.
Gomes led police on a 20-minute chase that reached speeds of 120 km/h before he pulled into a parking lot in a failed attempt to hide
Gomes later claimed 37 grams of cocaine found in his possession and the gun — which was never recovered — were not his. He said he stole the vehicle because somebody had told him to.
“At the time, he was struggling with addictions and did not have a place to sleep. He was desperate to feed his addictions and acted at the behest of others who were not looking out for his best interests,” documents state.
A pre-sentencing report said Gomes had a stable childhood and grew up in a home with his parents and sister. He engaged in recreational activities as a teen, was musically inclined and travelled with his family on vacation.
After graduating from high school and attending university, he worked various jobs in accounting and commerce, at a family-owned business and in the construction industry.
Gomes suffered a workplace injury around 2015 and became dependent on painkillers, eventually turning to drugs such as Percocet, fentanyl and cocaine, the report states.
He was on probation at the time of the carjacking after being convicted in 2022 of choking and punching an off-duty WPS officer when she intervened in a domestic dispute. Earlier that year, he was convicted of threatening to shoot a woman and her five children after she gave him a place to stay for a few weeks.
In August 2023, he was convicted of uttering threats “when he told a complainant, whom he had met online and went on a single date with, that he was going to shoot her,” court documents say.
“He sent her a video where he appeared to be cocking a black handgun. Later that evening, he arrived at her home and began banging on the windows and doors, demanding to be let in.”
Yale said Gomes’ “pattern of offending leads to the conclusion that his normative character is pro-criminal and violent.”
Prosecutor Amy Wood sought a total sentence of 13 years for the crimes, while defence lawyer Amando Claro argued for eight.
The judge settled on a 10-year sentence with enhanced credit for time served — leaving Gomes with eight years and 11 months remaining.
tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca
Tyler Searle
Reporter
Tyler Searle is a multimedia producer who writes for the Free Press‘s city desk. A graduate of Red River College Polytechnic’s creative communications program, he wrote for the Stonewall Teulon Tribune, Selkirk Record and Express Weekly News before joining the paper in 2022. Read more about Tyler.
Every piece of reporting Tyler produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.