Car and foot chase in Winnipeg ends with arrest of 2 men

Two men are being held after a stolen vehicle rammed a police cruiser, drove up on adowntown sidewalk to get around it, then hit a second police vehiclebeforethe driver and another man fled, one of them hitting pursuing officerswith bear spray.

Officers on patrol Monday night saw a stolen vehiclein downtown Winnipeg, near Portageand St. Mary avenues, around midnight.

They followed the stolen vehicle and a second unit approachedfrom the front, trying to stop the stolen vehicle at Broadway and LangsideStreet, Winnipeg police said in a news release.

The stolen vehicle accelerated and clipped thepassenger side of the cruiser, thenonto the sidewalk and around the cruiser.

Back onBroadway, it hitanother police cruiser.

Two people got out of the car and ran; police pursued.

As they ran, one of the men usedbear spray, which hit two officers.

Police arrested a mannear Broadway and Furby Street.

Another man was foundonFurby Street near Broadway. When he refused to comply with officers' demands, police shot him with a stun gun, then arrested him, the news release says.

The arrested men, Winnipeggers age 28 and 31, and two police officers were taken to hospital and later released.

Police ask anyone with information to call investigators at 204-986-6219 or Crime Stoppers at 204-786-8477.

'Escalation of violence'

There were two other cases where drivers rammed into police cruisers over the longweekend.

The first happened on Nov. 11 around 5:55 p.m. in the Bridgewater area, where patrol officers saw a vehicle driving suspiciously.

They followed the vehicle into a parking lot, when the vehicle turned around drove straight at the police cruiser, said Const. Tammy Skrabek.

The officers were unharmed, but the suspect and their vehicle have not been found, she added.

The second incident happened around 6:10 p.m.on Pembina Highway, when police found a stolen vehicle and tailed it. A second cruiser arrived in an attempt to contain the stolen vehicle, but the driver rammed into both cruisers.

Police said during the chaos, one of the officers fired agun.

This incident eventually led toAcademy Road in River Heights, between Oak and Ash streets, being blocked off with yellow tape and cruisers.

Academy remained closed through the night before it was reopened early Tuesday.

The stolen vehicle got away, but was later founddown the road crashed into a fence. The driver has not been found.

"For our members, this is a complete escalation of violence on the part of the offenders," Skrabek said. "We've seen it in the past, but not tothis magnitude.

"It's a reminder for officers to be more vigilant, be more aware of their surroundings, to be aware of the fact that offenders are willing to use this type of force which could potentially be deadly."