In Brief

Firefighter injured in building blaze

A FIREFIGHTER was injured while fighting a blaze in a vacant three-storey apartment building on Woodrow Place Wednesday evening.

Firefighters were called to the property at 7:54 p.m. and the fire was declared under control by 9:16 p.m. The injured firefighter did not require hospitalization.

City crews de-iced the area as water used to fight the fire froze and created slippery conditions. A fire occurred at the same property in December 2024.

Suspect in armed robberies arrested

Police have arrested a suspect in three armed robberies, including two cannabis dispensaries and a hotel lounge.

A hotel lounge was robbed on June 11 by a person wearing a disguise. On Oct. 14, about $5,000 in marijuana and vape products were stolen from a dispensary in the 700 block of St. Mary’s Road, and on Nov. 7, a cannabis dispensary in the 1300 block of Archibald Street was robbed.

The suspect was in a disguise and carried an air-powered rifle in all three robberies. No one was injured.

Yosef Negasi Michell, 38, was arrested while in custody at Milner Ridge Correctional Centre in relation to a different matter. Investigators seized a clown mask and imitation air-powered rifle after searching his home, police said.

Michell is charged with three counts each of robbery, wearing a disguise with intent, possession of a weapon as well as two breaches of a release order.

He remains in custody.

Man in hospital after being stabbed

A 52-year-old man is recovering in hospital after he was stabbed in the neck and mouth at a home in rural Manitoba Tuesday afternoon.

Mounties from the Sprague detachment received reports about a stabbing in Carrick around 12:45 p.m., RCMP said in a news release Thursday.

The community is located in the Rural Municipality of Piney, about 55 kilometres southeast of Steinbach.

Officers were advised the victim had been driven to Woodridge, just west of Carrick, where he met with emergency responders at a business on Provincial Road 210. The victim was taken via STARS air ambulance to hospital, where he immediately went into surgery, RCMP said.

Shortly after 1 p.m., RCMP received a report from CN Railway that a man was damaging railroad crossing arms in Carrick.

A truck travelling on Provincial Road 203 flagged down officers after they were dispatched and told police he picked up a man on the side of the road who was “acting strange,” the release said.

The man inside the truck matched the description of the stabbing suspect and the CN Rail report, and police arrested him.

Kerry Hiebert, a 38-year-old man from Steinbach, has been charged with aggravated assault, assault with a weapon and two counts of mischief over $5,000.

The victim remains in hospital in stable condition, where he is recovering from non-life-threatening injuries, police said.