Man charged in downtown Earls incident

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This article was published 20/03/2025 (374 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A man was restrained by three off-duty police officers after he allegedly threatened restaurant employees and the officers with a knife downtown Wednesday.

The Winnipeg Police Service said the man demanded food and alcohol at an establishment at about 5 p.m. The Free Press has learned the location was Earls Kitchen + Bar at 300 Main St.

He began acting belligerently and did not have the means to pay, the WPS said in a news release Thursday.

When denied further service, he grabbed a knife and threatened staff members, police said. Some off-duty WPS officers who were dining intervened, and the man threatened them, spokeswoman Const. Dani McKinnon said.

“They had to de-escalate him,” she said. “This is the kind of thing we potentially deal with often, but this was quite a dangerous situation.”

McKinnon couldn’t say whether the man was under the influence of drugs or alcohol but said the man told workers it was a robbery.

“He certainly wasn’t intending on being co-operative,” she said. “He ordered well above his means and refused to pay.”

Officers were able to restrain the man and waited for on-duty officers to arrive.

A 33-year-old Winnipeg man, who is known to police, has been charged with robbery and fraudulently obtaining food or lodging. He was detained in custody.

fpcity@freepress.mb.ca