Grocery store stabbing suspect arrested, charged in two robberies

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This article was published 04/12/2023 (641 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

An 18-year-old Winnipeg man has been charged after a grocery store employee was stabbed in the chest last week by an alleged shoplifter.

Jayden Smith is also accused of robbing a security guard at a downtown store 10 days before the stabbing, city police said Monday.

A 59-year-old No Frills worker was stabbed inside the chain’s 600 Notre Dame Ave. location, at about 8:45 p.m. Nov. 29.

“We understand that she will make a full recovery. I can tell you the injuries she sustained were actually quite severe, and she actually is lucky to be alive,” said Winnipeg Police Service spokesman Const. Claude Chancy.

Major crimes Insp. Jennifer McKinnon said the woman was stabbed while helping a store security guard with an alleged shoplifter. “Although she will heal from her injuries, the trauma that she will carry with her will be long and lasting.”

A witness to the scene previously told the Free Press the victim was holding her chest while speaking to co-workers and customers who came to her aid.

The assailant ran off, the witness said.

The store employee was taken to hospital in unstable condition and later upgraded to stable.

Police released a surveillance image and a description of a male during a public appeal for information early Dec. 1. A suspect was arrested on the 600 block of William Avenue about 12 hours later, at 7:15 p.m.

“This was effective in getting information very quickly,” Chancy said of the appeal. “We were able to get an identification within a day and make that arrest without incident.”

The suspect was released on an undertaking with conditions, which was mandated by the Criminal Code, police said.

Further investigation linked the suspect to a second violent robbery, which led to Smith being arrested again Dec. 2, police said. He is being held in custody.

“The second arrest — again, two violent incidences — made it so that the person could be detained at that point,” said Chancy.

Police said two suspects — one armed with an axe and the other with a hammer — stole a cellphone Nov. 19 from a security guard who tried to stop them in a store on the 300 block of Donald Street.

One of the suspects swung the hammer at the 28-year-old guard, who wasn’t injured, before the pair fled with stolen merchandise, said Chancy.

Giant Tiger Stores Ltd. spokeswoman Alison Scarlett confirmed the incident occurred at its retail chain store on Donald Street.

“As this is an active police investigation, we will refrain from commenting on the specifics of the matters,” Scarlett wrote in an email. “We are working directly with the Winnipeg police.”

The safety and security of employees and customers is the company’s top priority, she added.

“We have several programs to ensure that our staff are fully supported at all times, especially when an issue of this nature occurs at one of our stores. Our security measures and policies are constantly being reviewed and adjusted to ensure they keep with our stores and people’s needs.”

Smith has been charged with two counts of robbery with a weapon. He is also charged with assault with a weapon in the No Frills incident.

United Food and Commercial Workers Canada Local 832, which represents No Frills staff in Winnipeg, said it filed a grievance the day after the Nov. 29 stabbing, alleging the employer failed a legal obligation to provide a safe workplace.

Loblaw Companies Ltd., which owns the No Frills brand, has said it will not comment on the incident due to the ongoing investigation.

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca