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This article was published 08/04/2022 (428 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Police are investigating after an altercation between a pair of alleged shoplifters and four Food Fare grocery store staff members.

Officers were called to the 900 block of Portage Avenue at around 10:30 a.m. Friday, for a reported assault. One man was transported to hospital, but police didn’t have more details on his condition, Winnipeg Police Service spokeswoman Const. Dani McKinnon said.

“Typically, this is the type of report that would be forwarded to our major crimes unit, I believe that’s where this investigation will likely go,” she said.

Food Fare owner Munther Zeid said while he didn’t witness the incident himself, he was told four Food Fare staff members at the 905 Portage Ave. location chased two suspected shoplifters.

“There was an altercation — pushing, shoving, punching on both sides, but from what I was told, only two people got physical,” he said. “One was a push and a shove, and the other one got a little more physical than a push and a shove.”

McKinnon said while “one of the initial beliefs” presented to police was the incident involved Food Fare staff, it would be part of the investigation and she couldn’t confirm it.

Zeid said he was told by staff the man involved in the fight had a brick in his hand but the incident occurred off store property and he didn’t have camera footage of it.

“My staff would never go far unless they were protecting themselves and the guy went far also… Our job is just to get the stuff back. And (if) the guy’s giving us a hard time doing that, and he gets physical, we get physical — we don’t throw the first punch.”

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca