Man assaulted twice outside airport hotel

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This article was published 21/09/2023 (982 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A 54-year-old man is in hospital after he was beaten, robbed and, as he lay on the ground, stabbed in a brutal attack outside a St. James hotel Monday night.

The victim was allegely assaulted by a 33-year-old man and a 34-year-old woman, who walked off with his belongings, and then attacked by a 37-year-old man who came out of the hotel with a knife shortly after 8:30 p.m., according to the Winnipeg Police Service.

“Not only was he attacked once by the (man and woman), but as they walk away he gets assaulted a second time by a third suspect … who comes out and stabs him,” said police spokesman Const. Claude Chancy. “He sustained a substantial loss of blood from the assault.”

The victim, who suffered numerous lacerations from the knife, was taken to hospital in unstable condition. Police arrested three suspects at the scene.

Employees confirmed the incident happened in front of the Airport Motor Inn at Ellice Avenue and Berry Street.

Police were unable to confirm whether the victim and the assailants are known to each other, or if it is was a random crime. Chancy said the WPS believes the suspects know each other.

An Airport Motor Inn employee, who declined to give his name, claimed the victim and suspects arrived in a small multi-passenger bus.

“It didn’t start here. It finished here,” he said of the assault. “It had nothing to do with this place, and it just so happened that the bus stopped, and the timing and everything was here.”

The employee, who wasn’t working Monday night, said at least one of the people involved was a hotel guest, and added that staff provided surveillance video to police, who told them the victim suffered head and stomach injuries.

“For our city, it doesn’t surprise me. It’s a normal thing,” he said of the violence. “It’s not just here, it’s everywhere in the city. … It’s frustrating.”

A guest, who wouldn’t give her name, said the victim had stayed at the hotel and is from a community in northern Manitoba.

“It’s hard,” she said, when asked how she felt about the assault on her friend.

The suspects, whose names were not released, are facing robbery and aggravated assault-related charges, said police. The major crimes unit is investigating.

In a separate and random incident, a 16-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl are accused of robbing a man at gunpoint after asking him for a cigarette in front of Union Station in downtown Winnipeg on Wednesday night.

The victim, who is in his 20s, was sitting outside the station at Main Street and Broadway, when two teenagers confronted him, said police. He gave them a cigarette, but they demanded more. The man declined.

“The victim in this tried to ward them off,” said police spokeswoman Const. Dani McKinnon. “He offered them some money so they would go on their way.”

After a male suspect allegedly pulled out a gun, the man was robbed of his cash and cigarettes, and assaulted, said police.

McKinnon noted the suspects’ ages and the involvement of a gun. “It’s very disturbing,” she said.

Investigators are trying to acertain how the gun was obtained. The victim did not require medical attention, said police.

Tactical support team officers responded to the robbery, along with general patrol officers. The teen suspects were arrested nearby at the skateboard park at The Forks.

Police said the boy was charged with armed robbery using a firearm, carrying a concealed weapon and failing to comply with a release order. He was held in custody. The girl is facing a charge of armed robbery using a firearm. She was released from custody.

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @chriskitching