Accused in attack on Olive Garden server on probation Arson, meth use and mental illness part of court record By: Chris Kitching and Dean Pritchard Posted: 11:23 AM CDT Friday, Jun. 9, 2023 Last Modified: 5:05 PM CDT Friday, Jun. 9, 2023 Updates

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A 27-year-old Winnipeg man who was on probation has been accused of repeatedly stabbing an Olive Garden server in the neck in a random, unprovoked knife attack Thursday night.

Customers said they were startled by the 18-year-old woman’s screams while a diner attacked her at a table inside the busy restaurant, located at Reenders Drive and Lagimodiere Boulevard, shortly after 8 p.m.

“It looked like this man was punching her, but the way she was screaming, it seemed like more,” said a woman, who asked not to be named.

Police spokesman Const. Claude Chancy said the victim, who suffered severe injuries, was upgraded from unstable to stable condition in hospital.

The outcome could have been much worse, he noted, while acknowledging the trauma experienced by the victim and witnesses.

“We’ve got the young lady that was injured and could have been fatally injured, actually,” he said. “This will affect a lot of people for a long time.”

Chancy said a suspect was arrested nearby, in the 1500 block of Regent Avenue, after a brief struggle with officers, who recovered a weapon believed to have been used in the attack.

Police believe the assailant was carrying a knife when he entered Olive Garden.

The man, who did not know the victim, was alone and had been in the restaurant for about an hour before the attack, said Chancy.

“We know for a fact that it was unprovoked and random in nature… that’s what’s so alarming about it.”–WPS Const. Claude Chancy

“We know for a fact that it was unprovoked and random in nature,” he said at a news conference. “It is very much unprovoked, and that’s what’s so alarming about it.”

Chief Danny Smyth, who attended a Winnipeg Police Board meeting Friday, told the Free Press this kind of random violence in a place such as a restaurant is rare.

“It’s not unprecedented, but it’s rare,” he said.

The witness, who went to Olive Garden to celebrate a friend’s birthday, didn’t immediately process what was happening about three metres away from her table.

“I didn’t know she was stabbed until someone yelled, ‘she’s bleeding, we need a nurse,’” she said.

She said the server suffered about three stab wounds.

An employee shouted at the attacker and used two high chairs to distract him and protect others, the witness said.

“He definitely was a hero in that moment,” she said. “I just hope the (server) is OK.”

As the assailant fled, people applied napkins and towels to the victim’s wounds, while others called 911.

Two nurses, who were at the restaurant, provided emergency first aid until paramedics and police arrived a short time later, the witness said.

“They looked like they had seen a ghost — obviously, terrified and worried about their co-worker, especially because she was so young.”–Brenna Lamoureux, customer

Police thanked the Good Samaritans who “selflessly” helped the victim.

The witness said the victim’s distraught mother arrived and was comforted while paramedics treated her daughter, who was conscious and alert.

Customer Brenna Lamoureux and her friend comforted staff who witnessed the stabbing.

“They looked like they had seen a ghost — obviously, terrified and worried about their co-worker, especially because she was so young,” she said.

Customers were traumatized.

“It makes it hard to want to go out,” said the witness who attended the birthday dinner. “It does make me want to be more of a homebody.”

Witness Lindsay Reid was still in shock.

“The sound of (the server) screaming, the look of panic on people’s faces,” she said. “It’s haunting my head right now. I just really hope this girl is OK.”

Reid, who had dinner with a friend in a different dining area, said it appeared the attacker was chased out of the restaurant.

“I was in pure panic thinking, ‘is this guy going to come back? What about all the kids in the restaurant?’” she said. “There were a lot of families.”

“The sound of (the server) screaming, the look of panic on people’s faces… It’s haunting my head right now.”–Lindsay Reid, witness

Robert Alan Ingram, 27, of Winnipeg has been charged with aggravated assault, possession of a weapon, and failure to comply with a probation order.

He was remanded in custody during a brief video appearance in bail court Friday. His next court date is June 20.

In March 2021, Ingram was sentenced to 10 months in jail and 18 months of supervised probation after he admitted to setting fire to a vehicle in the parking lot of a Munroe Avenue apartment building, and a truck parked at King Construction on Main Street on May 18, 2020.

Police at the time were investigating a string of arsons that occurred that long weekend.

“Over the last little while, he has unfortunately developed a little bit of a meth addiction,” defence lawyer Saheel Zaman told provincial court Judge Tim Preston. “There has been some struggle with mental health challenges in the past, as well.”

As part of his probation order, Preston ordered that Ingram not possess any weapons or incendiary devices.

Ingram was arrested again June 28, 2022, after police found him at his apartment in possession of a lighter, which was a breach of his probation order.

Police were called after Ingram’s mother told his probation officer that he had built a meth lab in his apartment, court heard at a Nov. 15, 2022, sentencing hearing.

“They did not find a meth lab, but they did find components that are used in making meth,” Crown attorney Vuk Mitrovic told provincial court Judge Lindy Choy.

Defence lawyer Jesse Blackman said Ingram admitted to meth use in the past but had been sober for a “significant” period of time.

“Over the last little while, he has unfortunately developed a little bit of a meth addiction.”–Saheel Zaman, defence lawyer

“He has a complicated dynamic with respect to his family and allegations of drugs and that he has mental health conditions,” Blackman said. “If you ask his mom or, in some circumstances, probation, they are concerned he is using meth, that he is schizophrenic, that he poses a risk to himself and others.”

Choy sentenced Ingram to 30 days in jail and 18 months of supervised probation, under the same conditions prohibiting him from possessing weapons or incendiary devices.

Ingram remained in custody in connection to an unrelated weapon offence that was ultimately stayed and pleaded guilty to another count of possessing a weapon, a work tool, before being released on Jan. 12

The Olive Garden location on Reenders reopened Friday morning.

An employee said the atmosphere among staff was quiet, with the victim on everyone’s mind.

“I just hope everybody makes it out good and recovers,” said the worker, who doesn’t know the server who was attacked.

Lauren Bowes, a spokeswoman for Orlando, Fla.-based Olive Garden, said the employee is expected to make a full recovery.

“Our focus is on supporting our injured team member and all team members in the restaurant,” she wrote in an email. “We will continue to assist local authorities with their investigation.”

Workplace Safety and Health has contacted the employer and will be following up, said a spokesman for the provincial department.

— With files from Joyanne Pursaga

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca