‘You will not intimidate this city,’ mayor vows after extortion arrests
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Winnipeg’s mayor says extortionists will not intimidate the city’s residents after police arrested five people and issued Canada-wide warrants for two others on Monday.
Mayor Scott Gillingham praised the Winnipeg Police Service for its work in addressing a wave of extortions and arsons across the city.
“Let me be blunt and direct to anyone thinking that they can target our businesses,” Gillingham said. “You will not intimidate this city. If you prey on our community, you will be caught, and you will be held accountable.”
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Farhan Nabil, 29
The mayor’s remarks came a day after the Free Press reported the arrests in relation to extortions and arsons that primarily targeted businesses in the city’s core area. Winnipeg police formally detailed the arrests at a news conference Tuesday, appealing for the public’s help in locating two additional suspects.
Cora Renae Penner, 32; James Dean Herda, 33; Jahaid Hossain Maruf, 26; Jerry Marcel Martin, 49; and Lorenzo Lucas, 65, all face extortion-related charges.
WPS Insp. Jennifer McKinnon delivered a message to the two suspects still at large — Farhan Nabil, 29, and Jermaine Weekes, 40.
“We’re coming for you,” she said. “We’re not going to stop.”
The charges stem from incidents involving four convenience stores, an unoccupied warehouse, as well as a retail business on Portage Avenue, where a theft was reported. Three of the targeted convenience stores were located on Selkirk Avenue.
Two arsons were reported at businesses on Selkirk Avenue and another on Spruce Street.
McKinnon told the Free Press Monday the suspects seemed to target “one-off convenience stores, single owners, small businesses, with workers that may be vulnerable in the sense that they’re new Canadians, don’t speak the language, which can factor into some of these understandings of what’s happening.”
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Jermaine Weekes, 40
Gillingham said a thriving business community depends on safety.
“Residents need to feel confident in their neighbourhoods, small business owners need to feel confident opening their doors, and investors need to feel confident putting their money into projects that sometimes take years to deliver,” he said.
scott.billeck@freepress.mb.ca
Scott Billeck is a general assignment reporter for the Free Press. A Creative Communications graduate from Red River College, Scott has more than a decade’s worth of experience covering hockey, football and global pandemics. He joined the Free Press in 2024. Read more about Scott.
Every piece of reporting Scott 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.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Scott Billeck is a general assignment reporter for the Free Press. A Creative Communications graduate from Red River College, Scott has more than a decade’s worth of experience covering hockey, football and global pandemics. He joined the Free Press in 2024. Read more about Scott.
Every piece of reporting Scott 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.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
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