Man wanted on parole warrant arrested with gun

A man wanted on a warrant after his parole was revoked was arrested after he was spotted driving an electric scooter in Winnipeg’s North End on Wednesday evening.

The Winnipeg Police Service said patrol officers spotted the suspect erratically operating the scooter southbound on Salter Street near Redwood Avenue just before 8 p.m. He was weaving in and out of lanes, causing traffic to slow, police said.

Officers tried to pull the suspect over on the 200 block of Salter and he tried to run, but officers quickly caught him.

As they were arresting him, the suspect tried to reach into a satchel, leading police to use a Taser electroshock weapon on him. Police found a loaded Glock handgun, a few opioid pills and about $1,300 in cash.

Owen Lucas Pistun, 22, has been charged with a slew of firearm offences, as well as possession of drugs for the purpose of trafficking, possession of the proceeds of crime under $5,000 and resisting police. He was also charged on a warrant for being unlawfully at large since May this year.

Pistun has just one conviction on his Manitoba record, stemming from his August 2023 guilty plea to discharging a firearm with intent in March 2022. He was given six years in federal prison, less time served.