Downtown store security worker stabbed, suspect arrested

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This article was published 07/12/2023 (663 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A security guard was stabbed Wednesday by an alleged shoplifter in downtown Winnipeg, one week after a grocery store employee was severely injured in a similar attack.

Police spokesman Const. Claude Chancy said the loss prevention officer was stabbed in the upper body at the Dollarama location at 295 Portage Ave., after trying to stop an alleged thief.

“That’s when the suspect actually chased him and produced that edged weapon and stabbed him,” Chancy said Thursday.

Staff at the Dollarama just east of Donald Street confirmed the incident.

Chancy said the 23-year-old male victim, who had serious injuries, could have had a more dire outcome if not for Good Samaritans who promptly came to his aid and provided emergency care.

The injured man, who was found by first responders in a nearby business, was in stable condition when transported to hospital, police said.

Dollarama Inc. spokeswoman Lyla Radmanovich confirmed the security guard is employed by a contractor.

“We are providing our full co-operation to local authorities in their investigation into this incident,” she wrote in an email. “At Dollarama, our top priority is to promote a safe store environment.”

Officers arrested a suspect near Main Street and the Disraeli Freeway after a foot chase and recovered a weapon that had been discarded, police said.

Wednesday’s incident is the latest example of rising violence or threats against retail workers in Winnipeg, amid a spike in shoplifting this year.

“It’s very concerning to us that members of the public are put in danger,” said Chancy, referring to employees and customers.

Bruce Richard Renschler, 52, is charged with robbery, assault with a weapon and failing to comply with a release order following an earlier arrest. He was held in custody.

Renschler allegedly breached conditions which require him to not possess weapons and not consume substances.

He has a lengthy criminal history, with recent convictions of uttering threats and committing an indecent act in a public place, carrying a concealed weapon, uttering threats and probation breaches, according to court records.

Renschler is also facing charges of assaulting a peace officer and causing a disturbance in October 2022.

A security guard was posted next to the Dollarama location’s cashiers and exit when a Free Press reporter visited Thursday morning.

Outside the front door, local crafter Jimmy McKenzie was making tiny pairs of moccasins for infants at a table he regularly sets up on sidewalks near Portage and Donald.

When he arrived Wednesday, Dollarama’s front doors were taped off by police, McKenzie said, adding he has watched store security deal with shoplifters in the past.

“It’s pretty rough out here,” McKenzie said, noting the drug use in the area. “It’s getting worse. We need to get these things under control.”

Dollarama is neighboured mostly by empty storefronts. Outdoor gear retailer MEC Winnipeg, located next door, also has in-store security.

Some nearby businesses or offices, including Book Fair, keep their front doors locked for security reasons.

Book Fair owner Judy Weselowski said the practice began when store capacity limits and other restrictions were imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic. “We’ve just never really taken that off.”

Winnipeg police officers and cadets and Downtown Community Safety Partnership members conduct foot patrols in the area.

On Monday, police announced 151 arrests in connection with a crackdown on serial shoplifters in the downtown, Polo Park and Kildonan Crossing areas since Nov. 1.

Shoplifting reports were up by 44 per cent between January and August, compared with the same eight-month period last year. Police said violence against retail staff has also increased.

On Nov. 29, a 59-year-old No Frills worker was stabbed in the chest by an alleged shoplifter at the grocery chain’s 600 Notre Dame Ave. location.

An 18-year-old man accused of stabbing the employee is also charged in an armed robbery Nov. 19 at a downtown Giant Tiger retail store (345 Donald St.).

Meanwhile, a 39-year-old man is recovering after he was stabbed by a stranger near Main Street and Logan Avenue just before 3 p.m. Wednesday. He was taken to hospital in stable condition.

Police said a male suspect approached the victim and stabbed him during a “verbal confrontation.” Afterward, the victim went into Access Downtown, a Winnipeg Regional Health Authority facility, to seek help.

Doctors and nurses treated the injured man until paramedics arrived and took over, said WRHA spokeswoman Bobbi-Jo Stanley.

A suspect was arrested when he returned to the same location at 8:30 a.m. Thursday, said police.

Jeremy Jonathan Flett, 37, is charged with aggravated assault and possession of a weapon. He was held in custody.

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Flett has a lengthy record, with multiple assault convictions. In March 2022, he was given a lifetime weapons ban, after pleading guilty to assault causing bodily harm.

On Nov. 12, three people were injured in a random daytime stabbing spree inside a Shoppers Drug Mart in Osborne Village.

The attack happened after the suspect was confronted by security staff, said police.

— with files from Tyler Searle

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca

Chris Kitching
Reporter

Chris Kitching is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He began his newspaper career in 2001, with stops in Winnipeg, Toronto and London, England, along the way. After returning to Winnipeg, he joined the Free Press in 2021, and now covers a little bit of everything for the newspaper. Read more about Chris.

Every piece of reporting Chris produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.