‘I was just standing there’: man stabbed with needle in random attack monitored for infection By: Chris Kitching Posted: 2:35 PM CDT Tuesday, Mar. 21, 2023 Last Modified: 6:53 PM CDT Tuesday, Mar. 21, 2023 Updates

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A Winnipeg man who was randomly stabbed with a hypodermic needle at a local restaurant faces an anxious wait to find out if he was potentially infected with any disease during the attack.

Gerard Leuchter, 62, said a stranger poked him with the needle after he paid for his food at the Burger Factory (1600 Regent Ave. W.) and gave the woman his change at about noon Sunday.

“I felt something between my shoulder blades, and the girl at the cashier said, ‘Did she stab you with a needle?’” Leuchter told the Free Press at his home Tuesday. “There was no provocation. I was just standing there.”

The suspect has since been accused of wielding a needle on a Winnipeg Transit bus prior to the restaurant incident.

She spent time in jail for a similar attack in 2018, according to court records.

Leuchter will have to take medication and undergo additional blood tests and check-ups at a medical clinic in the weeks or months ahead, while he hopes for a clean bill of health from his physician.

The retiree doesn’t know why he was stabbed nor if there was anything in the needle that punctured his skin.

Leuchter said he noticed the woman outside the fast-food restaurant, which is in a strip mall west of Lagimodiere Boulevard, after he parked his van.

He had seen her before in the Elmwood neighbourhood. “This lady was in the parking lot, screaming to herself, but she didn’t look violent,” he said.

She followed him into the Burger Factory and lingered around him while he placed his order.

“She was right beside me, still talking, screaming,” he said.

After giving the woman his change, “she stood there for a little bit,” said Leuchter. “And then I thought she was gone because I looked on my left side and she wasn’t there.”

He was then stabbed in the back with a needle, while facing the employee who took his lunch order.

Leuchter, who was wearing a “heavy” jacket, felt a poke, which wasn’t very painful and left a “red dot” on his back.

The woman went outside into the parking lot, while staff called 911.

Police arrived within minutes and arrested a suspect. She appeared to be intoxicated, police said in a news release Monday.

Leuchter said officers found two needles when they arrested the woman.

“Those guys were so fast. I want them to know I appreciate them,” he said of the officers. “They were fast and efficient.”

He then showed his bare back to police.

“They asked me to take my shirt off to see if I was poked, and, yes, I did get poked,” he said. “They told me to go to the hospital.”

At Concordia Hospital, Leuchter had blood drawn to be tested for infectious diseases. He was given post-exposure medicine to prevent HIV and strains of hepatitis. He had a follow-up appointment at a clinic Monday.

A police officer called Monday to check in. The officer told him the same suspect allegedly threatened people with a needle on a Transit bus before the stabbing, Leuchter said.

Winnipeg Police Service spokeswoman Const. Dani McKinnon said investigators confirmed Monday the suspect allegedly had a hypodermic needle on a bus in a previous incident, which has led to further charges.

No one was injured in the incident on the bus.

“Police continued to investigate and later determined the suspect in this incident was one in the same as in the Regent incident,” McKinnon wrote in an email. “She is facing additional assault-related charges and remains in custody.”

Sunday’s needle attack didn’t come as a surprise to Leuchter: “There’s so much crap happening everywhere now.”

Leuchter said he still feels the same when it comes to safety, and he doesn’t plan to change anything despite the incident.

“I will still go to the same restaurant and do the same things I did before,” he said. “You’re in a city where there’s a lot of crime. You have to behave yourself according to that.”

As for the suspect, he hopes she gets any help she needs while the case moves through the court system.

Jessie Kayla Genaille, 34, was charged with assault with a weapon and failing to comply with a release order in the stabbing at the restaurant.

Genaille was arrested in June 2018, after a woman was stabbed in the arm with a hypodermic needle in a lingerie store at St. Vital Centre. The syringe contained blood.

In 2019, Genaille pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and two other charges following the unprovoked attack.

She was sentenced to 23 months in jail, two years of supervised probation and a 10-year weapons prohibition. She was also ordered to submit a DNA sample.

Court heard Genaille was high on methamphetamine and possibly suffering a “psychotic episode” during the 2018 incident, which happened days after she was released from jail.

She was previously diagnosed with schizophrenia, but hadn’t refilled the prescription for her medication. Genaille, who has suffered abuse throughout her life, developed addictions during a tragic childhood, court heard.

A judge was also told some of the Métis woman’s family members were survivors of the residential school system and the 60s Scoop.

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @chriskitching