41-year-old man taken to hospital in unstable condition and later upgraded to stable
A store employee who was confronting a shoplifter quickly turned from victim to suspect following a confrontation outside the store, according to police.
The incident happened on Saturday in the West Alexander neighbourhood in Winnipeg, Manitoba. At around 8 pm, Central District General Patrol officers were patrolling in the said neighbourhood when they observed two males who were engaged in a physical altercation, one of which was armed with a large edged weapon.
Police immediately arrested the male suspect holding the edged weapon, who happened to be a 28-year-old employee of a commercial business in the 600 block of William Avenue.
Meanwhile, they found the victim – a 41-year-old man – sustained serious bodily injuries from the incident. He was transported to hospital in unstable condition and later upgraded to stable.
Police later found out that the victim had entered the commercial business and exited the store with stolen merchandise.
The suspect armed himself with an edged weapon and confronted the suspect outside.
“A physical altercation ensued escalating in the suspect striking the victim multiple times with the edged weapon,” said the Winnipeg Police Service.
The store employee from Winnipeg has been charged with aggravated assault and possession of a weapon.
He was released on an Undertaking as mandated by the Criminal Code.
‘You’re going to have to justify to everyone else why you took the steps that you did’
This case is rare, but not unheard of, according to two lawyers.
“It’s not the kind of offence that’s going to get reported, so it doesn’t come before the courts very frequently,” Winnipeg defence attorney Scott Newman said in a Winnipeg Free Press report.
“What’s a thief going to say? ‘The store employee assaulted me, but don’t worry, I was stealing.’”
While the employee had a right to confront the shoplifter for stealing from the store, there is a limit to what he can do, said Newman.
“You do have the ability to defend your property, but you’re going to have to justify to everyone else why you took the steps that you did,” he said. “The context is important.”
Defence attorney Evan Roitenberg agreed.
“There’s a difference between protecting your property in the moment… versus exacting a pound of flesh on somebody who has tried to take your property,” he said. “There are limits beyond which you can’t go.”
However, Roitenberg is asking the public not to jump to conclusions too quickly just based on what the police have reported.
“When (information) comes from a police report, there is a lot of nuance and detail that you’re not provided, some of which isn’t known to the police yet,” he said in the same report.
“The police have authorized charges and they are giving you the release of those facts, which they believe justify those charges, but it doesn’t mean it tells the full story.”
The Winnipeg Police Service Major Crimes Unit has assumed investigation into the case.
Previously, the Retail Council of Canada (RCC) raised concerns about the rise in the number of violence and aggravated offenses against front line retail staff.
And while the Winnipeg police and provincial officials have put a focus on addressing these crimes in the past years, it’s up to the provincial government to address what’s causing them in the first place, said Roitenberg.
“The attention that’s paid to it comes in waves,” Roitenberg said in the Winnipeg Free Press report. “It’s really up to our government of the day to try to get at the underlying causes and correct those because… what’s at the heart of the issue is poverty and addiction.”
