Two arrested in West Broadway robbery, stabbing

City police have arrested a man and a woman in connection with a violent robbery in Winnipeg’s West Broadway neighbourhood earlier this week.

Officers were called to the parking lot behind the former Sherbrook Inn (now the East Gate Inn) just before 8:30 p.m. Monday following reports of a robbery.

At the scene, police learned a 32-year-old man had been involved in a verbal altercation with two suspects that escalated. The victim was stabbed and robbed of personal belongings before managing to flee.

Police said Friday that officers provided life-saving first aid at the scene. The man was transported to hospital in critical condition and has since been upgraded to stable.

The investigation led police to identify two suspects, including a man who was wanted on a pair of warrants for being unlawfully at large.

Just before 11 p.m. on Thursday, members of the Manitoba integrated violent offender apprehension unit — staffed by Winnipeg Police Service and RCMP officers — tracked the two suspects to a home on the 700 block of Notre Dame Avenue.

Police say the male suspect attempted to escape by climbing out a window, prompting a brief foot chase before he was arrested. Officers also seized a small quantity of methamphetamine during the arrest.

Michael Anthony Caribou, 35, has been charged with robbery, aggravated assault, resisting a police officer and possession of a scheduled substance — methamphetamine.

Cassandra Lorraine Beardy, 34, has been charged with robbery and aggravated assault.

Both remain in custody.

Earlier this week, East Gate Inn owner Neil Soorsma said a man who was injured in the altercation came from Furby Street and ran across the parking lot and into the hotel to seek help.

“The staff called an ambulance for them,” he said. Officers were given surveillance video showing the exterior of the hotel.

Soorsma didn’t know what happened nor the extent of the man’s injuries.

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Caribou pleaded guilty in August 2020 for his role in the 2018 group beating and stabbing death of 40-year-old Jason James in a Pritchard Avenue drug house.

Caribou had been charged with second-degree murder, though it was not immediately clear Friday based on court records whether he pleaded guilty to that offence or the lesser crime of manslaughter. Caribou was sentenced to seven years in prison, less time served, for the killing in December 2020.

When James arrived at the drug house on Sept. 22, 2018, he was beaten and attacked with a bicycle chain over a perceived slight to one of the women later convicted in his killing, before he was taken screaming to the basement, where the assault continued and he was fatally stabbed, court heard at the trial for Caribou’s four co-accused.

Caribou is accused of being unlawfully at large on Dec. 29 last year, records show. It’s unclear from where he’s accused of escaping.

His criminal record also includes convictions for a 2016 assault, as well as robberies and assaults with intent to steal, committed in 2013 and 2018, respectively.