News briefs for Tuesday, March 28, 2023

Fire in four-storey Main Street building

9:42 AM

Crews extinguished a fire in a four-storey residential building on Main Street on Monday afternoon.

Firefighters were sent to the building in the 600 block of Main at 1:43 p.m. and declared the fire under control at 2:04 p.m.

No injuries were reported.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service said.

Fire damages Arnold Avenue home

9:47 AM

A house on Arnold Avenue sustained significant smoke, fire and water damage in a fire Monday night.

Fire crews were sent to the one-and-a-half-storey home in the 400 block of Arnold Avenue at 7:31 p.m. Heavy smoke and flames were coming from the home, and firefighters attacked the blaze from outside the house because it was unsafe to enter.

Everyone inside the home evacuated before fire crews arrived.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Murder charge laid in January West End apartment slaying

11:31 AM

Winnipeg police homicide detectives have arrested a man accused in the city’s first homicide of the year.

Star Alicia Thomas, 23, was found with serious injuries inside an apartment fire at 741 Sargent Ave. on Jan. 3. She later died and the homicide unit took over the investigation.

On Monday, police arrested Joey Robertson Lecoy, 26. Police said Lecoy and the victim knew each other prior to the slaying.

He’s been charged with second-degree murder and five counts of possession of a firearm, restricted/prohibited weapon or ammunition contrary to prohibition orders. He was detained.

U of M prof Grace Nickel wins Governor General’s award

11:47 AM

Grace Nickel, a ceramic artist who is a professor with the University of Manitoba School of Art, won the Saidye Bronfman Award for excellence in fine crafts, one of several Governor General’s in Visual and Media Arts announced this morning.

Nickel has exhibited her works of sculptural ceramics and installations around the world, such as Japan and Taiwan, where she has won international competitions.

Many of her ceramics are in permanent museum collections around the world, and one of her installations is at Ottawa’s Memorial Centre at the Beechwood National Cemetery of Canada.

Among her most recent exhibitions was 2022’s Eruptions, at Gallery 1C03 at the U of M, which combined porcelain and experiments with 3-D printing.

Man arrested after North End gun investigation

11:51 AM

Winnipeg police arrested a man accused of carrying a sawed-off double-barrel shotgun in a taxi Monday afternoon.

Police said community support officers began a firearm investigation into a wanted suspect in the city’s North End earlier this month. On Monday, officers spotted the suspect get into the rear seat of a cab on the 400 block of Dufferin Avenue at about 2:30 p.m. and pulled the taxi over at Salter Street and Aberdeen Avenue.

The suspect tried to run, police said, but officers quickly arrested him and found the shotgun in the cab.

A 29-year-old Winnipeg man has been charged with six weapons offences and two counts of failing to comply with the conditions of a release, as well as on a warrant. He was detained.

Teen girl found dead in Thompson dog park

2:56 PM

A 15-year-old girl was found dead in a Thompson park on Tuesday morning.

The teen’s remains were found in the dog park off Baffin Crescent at about 8 a.m., RCMP said.

It is believed the girl had been outside for hours overnight, as the temperature dipped as low as -24 C.

The girl was reported missing at about 11:50 p.m. Monday after she left the Thompson Recreational Community Centre grounds, where she had been with friends. All of the girl’s friends had returned home.

“Extensive patrols and inquiries attempting to locate the female were made throughout the night,” RCMP said.

She was last seen in the area of where her remains were found, RCMP said.

An autopsy will be done. Thompson RCMP continue to investigate.

Vehicle stolen in Regina linked to Brandon man’s death: RCMP

3:49 PM

Manitoba RCMP major crimes investigators have linked a vehicle stolen from Regina with a man’s death in Brandon last October.

Blue Hills RCMP were called to a rural area in the RM of Cornwallis outside the western Manitoba city, where human remains were found. The body was identified in January as James Vernon Giesbrecht, 37, who had been reported missing to Brandon police in December. Major crimes Mounties took over and began investigating the death as a homicide.

On Tuesday, RCMP said investigators had linked the grey 2007 Honda Accord with a Saskatchewan plate to Giesbrecht’s death. It was last spotted in the Brandon area from Oct. 5-13 last year and had been stolen from Regina.

Mounties hope to learn more about where the vehicle went and who was driving it, asking the public to call 1-431-489-8110 with tips.