Man in custody after latest attack on security guard

A 32-year-old man is facing multiple charges following an early morning armed assault on a hotel security guard in the St. James Industrial neighbourhood.

Officers were called to the Airport Motor Inn at 1800 Ellice Ave. around 1:20 a.m. on Wednesday after a man, described as intoxicated, was asked to leave the lobby because he was not a guest. Police say the suspect then pulled a knife and attacked a 25-year-old security guard, striking him multiple times in the upper body while making death threats.

The guard was able to disarm the suspect, who fled the scene. Officers located the man in the hotel parking lot shortly after and arrested him without incident just before 2 a.m.

The security guard was not injured in the attack.

Cody Harper faces multiple charges, including assault with a weapon, assault, uttering threats, and failing to comply with a release order. He remains in custody.

Harper has never been convicted of a crime in Manitoba, but has been charged with several other offences he is alleged to have committed earlier this year.

He is accused of a sexual assault and a theft under $5,000 on Feb. 3, assaulting someone by choking them on Feb. 15, and a slew of court order breaches. He appears to have been out on bail.

The incident is the latest targeting a security guard in the city.

A 46-year-old man faces charges after police say he pulled out a knife and threatened to kill a security guard at the Radisson Hotel on March 9.

A 23-year-old security guard was arrested March 2 after he was caught on film punching a suspected shoplifter at a downtown Dollarama store.

He has been charged with assault with a weapon, unauthorized possession of a prohibited or restricted weapon, and uttering threats.

That suspected shoplifter is the same man who threatened the guard at the Radisson, multiple sources have told the Free Press.

The attack sparked anger and condemnation from First Nations groups, who raised questions about use-of-force practices and how Indigenous people are treated in public settings.

On Saturday, Indigenous leaders called for changes to the province’s 20-year-old security guard training curriculum.

Manitoba Justice Minister Matt Wiebe, who attended the forum and addressed the audience, told reporters that the province is in the process of modernizing its training program, which was last updated in 2005.

— with files from Erik Pindera

scott.billeck@freepress.mb.ca