Security guard in stable condition after grocery store assault

A security guard was taken to hospital after an assault at a Sargent Avenue FreshCo Friday, just days after another guard was stabbed during a robbery at a St. James Dollarama.

Winnipeg police said officers were called to a store in the 600 block of Sargent Avenue shortly after 1 p.m. for a report of an assault.

An 24-year-old male victim was taken to hospital in critical condition, later upgraded to stable. Charges against a 23-year-old man were announced Sunday. The suspect had tried to leave the grocery store without paying for merchandise before a confrontation broke out and he pulled out a knife outside of the store, the Winnipeg Police Service stated in a news release Sunday.

Peter Edwin Morrison Black, 23, has been charged with robbery, assault with a weapon and possession of a weapon. He was detained in custody. He was arrested Aug. 29, the day after the stabbing, in the area of Ellice Avenue and Sherbrook Street.

The incident comes three days after a 22-year-old security guard was stabbed during a robbery at a Dollarama in the Courts of St. James.

Police said the guard confronted a man suspected of shoplifting around 4 p.m. Tuesday and directed him to leave the store.

The suspect allegedly pulled out a sharp-edged weapon and stabbed the guard in the upper body before fleeing with stolen merchandise.

The guard was initially taken to hospital in unstable condition and was later upgraded to stable.

Nelson Preston Sumner, 29, was arrested at Portage Avenue and Strathmillan Road Wednesday morning. He was charged with aggravated assault, robbery and failing to comply with a probation order. He remains in custody.

scott.billeck@freepress.mb.ca