Homeless man charged after allegedly throwing bottle at child playing near encampment

A homeless man has been charged after he allegedly threw a water bottle at a child playing next to a park, then chased the boy while screaming at him.

Police say a group of children were passing by the Ellen & Pacific Greenspace, at the northeast corner of Pacific Avenue and Ellen Street, at about 2:30 p.m. on Oct. 8 when a water bottle was thrown at one of the kids by a man in the park, where a large homeless encampment is set up.

He then chased the boy down the street yelling at him, a Winnipeg Police Service news release said Tuesday.

The incident was unprovoked, WPS spokeswoman Const. Dani McKinnon said. The kids ranged in age from nine to 12 years old.

Officers arrested a 27-year-old man at the encampment. Ryan Mark Vivier was charged with assault with a weapon and detained in custody.

Several people staying in the encampment told the Free Press they weren’t aware of the incident.

McKinnon wasn’t able to say if police had been called to the encampment before.

Vivier has an extensive criminal record dating back to 2016, including convictions for a break-and-enter, robbery, possessing a credit card that has been obtained illegally, mischief, numerous breaches of probation and of court orders and theft under $5,000.

He was sentenced to time served, 18 months of supervised probation and was barred from possessing weapons for life after a 2020 robbery.

In addition to the recent encampment assault, Vivier remains before the court for a number of offences allegedly committed on Sept. 3 this year, including a break-and-enter, mischief to property, two counts of assaulting a peace officer and one of possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose.

On Sept. 25 city council unanimously voted to ban encampments from being set up near playgrounds, pools, spray pads, recreation facilities, schools, daycares, adult care facilities, medians, traffic islands, transit shelters, bridges, docks, piers, rail lines and rail crossings.

The bylaw goes into effect Nov. 17.

McKinnon wouldn’t comment on the incoming bylaw but said public safety is the No. 1 priority for the WPS.

“And that includes people in the encampments, people around the encampments. And when we’re called to these scenarios, each incident is evaluated independently,” she said.

In early September a Grade 9 student at Collège Jeanne-Sauvé on Dakota Street in St. Vital got scratched up after an incident with a homeless man during gym class.

The class was participating in forest exploration when students walked by a tent set up in Dakota Forest. A homeless person exited the tent and chased after the group, catching up with one of the students.

Louis Riel School Division superintendent Christian Michalik later said he became aware of allegations the students provoked the man by throwing sticks at his tent and calling him names.

Officers investigated the incident but determined there were insufficient grounds to charge the involved male, police said at the time.

— With files from Erik Pindera

nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca