Four charged after rampage in stolen truck

Winnipeg police arrested four people Monday afternoon after a stolen truck filled with sawed-off firearms and drug paraphernalia rammed into a pair of police vehicles near the intersection of Main Street and Sutherland Avenue.

"(The driver) literally stepped on the gas at full speed in an attempt to ram the car," Const. Tammy Skrabek told reporters on Tuesday.

One officer was injured and taken to hospital, where he was treated and released, she said.

Police received an early morning report of a 2010 GMC Sierra stolen from a home in East St. Paul on Monday. Later in the day, officers spotted the truck in the North End, near Main Street and Sutherland Avenue.

Officers with the tactical support unit recognized the driver as someone with an extensive drug and gang history, and then co-ordinated with general patrol and street crime units to stop the truck while it was idling.

The driver then rammed the truck into the police vehicle, causing significant damage. The driver then reversed around the damaged vehicle and began driving along the sidewalk, which was crowded with pedestrians.

Officers attempted to surround the truck before the driver went further, but another police vehicle was struck head-on.

No pedestrians were injured.

"Everything unfolded very, very quickly," Skrabek said.

When officers were able to arrest the driver and three passengers, they found a loaded, sawed-off 12-gauge shotgun, one unloaded 12-gauge shotgun, a sawed-off .22-calibre rifle and a black replica handgun. Police also found 35 grams of methamphetamine and two working scales in the truck.

Kenneth Micheal Clusiau, 35, faces several drug- and weapons-related charges, including assault with a weapon, possession of methamphetamine for the purpose of trafficking and the dangerous operation of a vehicle to cause bodily harm. Police executed five separate arrest warrants on Clusiau when they apprehended him.

Cheyenne Tasha Ballantyne, 27, Hailey Vanessa Lynn Regent, 20, and Stephanie Barbara Ann Hunter, 28, are charged with various drug- and weapon-related offences, including possessing methamphetamine for purposes of trafficking, possession of unauthorized weapons and possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000.

All four are in custody.

— Ben Waldman