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'Homeless hero' heads to jail

By: Mike McIntyre

Posted: 09/6/2011 4:28 PM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

BORIS MINKEVICH / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS ARCHIVES Enlarge Image

Faron Hall at the banks of the Red River in May 2009.

Winnipeg’s "homeless hero" has admitted to an aggressive panhandling incident that ended with a doctor being attacked in front of her young children.

Faron Hall pleaded guilty last week to a charge of assault and was ordered to spend two months in jail, in addition to four months of time already served.

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Hall, 48, approached the victim for money as she was about to get into her car near the intersection of Hargrave Street and Ellice Avenue last May, court was told. The woman was getting her children into the vehicle and declined his request, apologizing that she couldn’t help him. However, she offered Hall some apples.

Hall got angry by her offer and kicked her car door, which slammed against her and pinned her against her vehicle. People who witnessed the incident contacted police, who arrived quickly and arrested Hall.

The woman didn’t suffer any serious physical injuries but was reported to be shaken up, along with her children who sat nearby.

Hall first made headlines in May 2009 when he jumped into the Red River to rescue 19-year-old Joseph Mousseau, who had been horsing around on the Provencher Bridge with friends. Hall, an alcoholic who had been living under the bridge, swam about 15 metres into the frigid river to grab the teen.

In September 2009, Hall was drinking with four friends on the banks of the Red River in St. Boniface when one of his friends, a 19-year-old woman, slipped into the water. The woman’s boyfriend jumped in to save her, but neither could swim. Hall leaped into the water and managed to save 19-year-old Tara Lynn Beardy. He went back in to try to save her 32-year-old boyfriend, Chris Harper, but he had gone under.

In the months following Hall’s heroic efforts, his actions were lauded far and wide. He received the mayor’s Medal of Valour and two medals from the Manitoba Life Saving Society. The Winnipeg Foundation set up an endowment fund in his name to give grants to community groups that support the homeless.

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