Two accused in police HQ flooding

Winnipeg Police headquarters and a section of the adjoining skywalk were flooded Saturday night after vandals opened an emergency water valve in a stairwell of the downtown office tower.

Multiple areas within Winnipeg police HQ and the downtown office tower at 266 Graham Ave. suffered extensive damage after the flooding was discovered shortly after 6 p.m.

“Water was pouring down the stairs. Water was pouring through ceilings. It happened very quickly. The amount of pressure that was building up was significant … (the) floodgates basically opened up,” spokesperson Const. Dani McKinnon said at a rare Sunday morning press conference.

Police say two people, a 51-year-old man and 36-year-old woman, opened the emergency water valves in a stairwell. Pressure built up in the pipes and flooded the stairwell and multiple tenants located in the adjoining skywalk.

The staircases are accessible through the skywalk system, which runs through 266 Graham Ave. McKinnon said there was no security breach to police HQ.

The two suspects were charged with six counts of mischief over $5,000 and released on undertakings.

Just after 12 p.m. Sunday cleaning crews were seen working in the skywalk system. Workers were putting buckets under dripping ceiling tiles and carting industrial dryers into some of the commercial spaces.

Water was seen pooled on the floors of the Subway sandwich shop, Pizzanne’s U-Bake Pizza and a unit that is listed as vacant by the city.

One cleaner told the Free Press he had been there since 11 p.m. and the flooding extended from the fourth floor of the building to the basement.

McKinnon wouldn’t confirm which floors of the police headquarters had water damage.

“We are going to take our time to find … every little nook and cranny that was affected,” McKinnon said.

City spokesperson David Driedger said work to determine the extent of the damage is still ongoing.

Videos viewed by the Free Press showed water pouring out of the main stairwell at 266 Graham into the Winnipeg Police lobby beside the elevator system Saturday night. Another video showed water flooding the entirety of the floor.

The stairwell in question has a large, red pipe running through it with circular valves located on the landing of each floor. The system is used by the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic System to access water during fire events.

The stairwell is accessible to the public.

Ceiling tiles in the police lobby, the attached unit that houses Canada Post, the skywalk and multiple tenants located in the skywalk appeared waterlogged. Some tiles lay crumbled on the floor, yet to be cleaned up by crews.

Canada Post spokesperson Phil Legault said crews have been to the site to investigate and assess their unit for damage, as well as any possible damage to customers’ mail. Crews will be working overnight and reporting progress in the morning, but Legault did not anticipate that the post office would be open on Monday.

McKinnon did not have a motive for the incident and wouldn’t say whether the suspects are known to police. The extent of the damage, and attached price tag, is still being determined.

Crews carted in hundreds of industrial fans to the city-owned building Sunday morning and garbage bags covered computer monitors in the police’s public reporting area. The flooding was contained, but public access to police headquarters at 245 Smith St. are restricted until further notice.

Uniformed operations were not affected by the incident, but some units in the building had to be moved, McKinnon said.

On Saturday night, Winnipeg police issued a notice on social media saying there had been a water-main break, which caused the flooding, but quickly corrected themselves to say it was “due to overhead pipes and the cause is still to be determined. “

McKinnon said the true nature of the leak was discovered and fire crews quickly shut off the valves.

“I became aware of this in the early evening hours and was tasked to do some quick messaging. We all jumped together really quickly. I said water main break — it wasn’t a water main break. Boy, did I get taken to task on that,” McKinnon said.

McKinnon did not know how long the valves were open for.

General patrol officers and cadets searched the area and turned over two suspects to the Major Crimes Unit at about 11 p.m.

The vandalism comes during a public inquiry about the purchase and renovation of the building, which ran more than $70 million over budget by the time it was completed in 2016. The project has been subject to two audits, an extensive RCMP investigation and two civil lawsuits.

McKinnon would not draw any connections between Saturday’s incident and the ongoing inquiry.

Anyone who was in custody at the central location was moved to a different station, but McKinnon did not know how many people were moved. Winnipeg police has three other stations, but they are not accessible to the public.

No one was hurt.

nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca