Meth linked to break-ins and hostage takings at rooming house
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/12/2018 (1960 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Winnipeg police have arrested two men in connection with a robbery and shooting at a Point Douglas rooming house where residents were held at gunpoint for hours, an incident suspected to be related to use of methamphetamine.
At about 5 a.m. on Wednesday, police responded to a report of a man armed with a gun at a residence in the 200 block of Austin Street. When officers arrived, they found a 29-year-old woman had been shot in the upper body. She was taken to hospital in stable condition, and was later released.
Officers searched the residence and found two men with loaded guns. Police said they learned the men went from suite to suite, breaking into each unit and stealing cash, jewelry, electronics and clothing. They assaulted occupants with a gun and a metal bar and held them at gunpoint in a confined area for several hours.
During this time, the men threatened residents and fired the guns several times, which was when the victim was shot, officers said.
When a reporter visited the rooming house on Thursday, it was all but empty. Three people were seen leaving, carrying personal items and none would talk about what happened the previous day.
Another man who said he was the plumber described the inside of the house. Doors had been kicked in during the hostage taking, leaving suites without privacy. He said he was cleaning syringes out of toilets.
“People are leaving. They’re scared. I spoke to one young woman and she’s moving out,” Vincent Lang said.
Outside the rooming house, vomit speckled the concrete landing and broken furniture was piled up around the side of the house.
“This is the last stop before the street for people here,” Lang said. “People here don’t have a choice … it’s really sad.”
Point Douglas community activist Sel Burrows said the rooming house has long been known as a problem in the neighbourhood.
‘It is so aggravating. I mean, we were just celebrating on Monday and Tuesday because the police closed down a major meth hub in our area, which we worked with them on… And then this happens’
– Sel Burrows, Point Douglas community activist
“Ten years ago, this address was the worst address we had in Point Douglas,” said Burrows. “As fast as the police would arrest drug dealers, they would put more drug dealers in again.”
Burrows said the rooming house was controlled by people affiliated with the Manitoba Warriors gang until about two years ago, when the former owners sold it due to mounting pressure from the community. The problems went away for awhile, but started recurring earlier this year when drugs began to make their way into the area, he said.
“What happened yesterday was – from the description I’ve got from people who were there – totally meth,” said Burrows. “Their behaviour was just, even for bad guys, it was so violent. They basically wrecked the place.”
Burrows said the suspects were unknown to people in the neighbourhood, and the incident has left people shaken – but they are determined to keep crime out of their community.
“It is so aggravating. I mean, we were just celebrating on Monday and Tuesday because the police closed down a major meth hub in our area, which we worked with them on… And then this happens,” he said.
“This kind of event is horrible, disrupting to our community, scary for the people. It’s people from outside our community coming in and disrupting it. This is something we’ve got to fix, and make sure it doesn’t repeat itself,” Burrows said.
Burrows said he’d been in email contact with the rooming house owner, who’s out of the country, and they’re working on plans to repair the house so tenants can return.
Burrows said the plan right now is for community groups to help the owner keep an eye on the house — 24/7 if necessary — so people can feel safe about living there again.
On Wednesday, officers arrested 27-year-old Joey Ryce Chief of Brokenhead, Man., and 27-year-old Lindsay Jordan Mousseau of MacDonald, Man. They both face various robbery and weapons-related charges and probation offences, including breach of probation, aggravated assault, assault with a weapon, robbery with a firearm, forcible confinement and uttering threats.
Both men were detained at the Winnipeg Remand Centre.
— with files from Alexandra Paul
caitlyn.gowriluk@freepress.mb.ca
