Taxi driver hit over the head with fake gun; passenger faces charges

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This article was published 17/11/2017 (2349 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Police Service is sounding the alarm about replica firearms after a taxi driver was struck in the head with one by a passenger on Friday night.

The taxi driver picked up a man around 11:30 p.m. near Notre Dame Avenue and Weston Street and driven to the 2100 block of Gallagher Avenue, said Const. Jay Murray. At that point both driver and passenger began to argue, although it’s unclear what exactly sparked the disagreement.

The man then got out of the taxi, walked around to the driver’s door and demanded at gunpoint that the 43-year-old male driver give him money.

The suspect then hit the driver in the head with the weapon and left the area with an undisclosed amount of cash. Police were able to track him to a backyard on the 400 block of Logan Avenue using the police helicopter at which point they dispatched the canine unit to arrest him in the bushes.

The suspect is “very well known to police,” Murray said.

While the police constable didn’t want to diminish the “psychological trauma” the taxi driver likely sustained, he said the injuries were relatively minor and the man was in stable condition when taken to the hospital.

Police arrested 29-year-old Winnipegger Travis Edmard Melvin Francis. Francis now faces a series of charges including armed robbery using a firearm, use of a firearm to commit an indictable offence, pointing a firearm, and two counts of failing to comply with a probation order.

None of the charges have been proven in court. Francis has been detained in custody.

The gun itself was a replica of a gun used during multiple wars by the U.S military, said Murray.He stressed how hard it can be to tell real from fake, noting that cases involving replica firearms have become quite common both in Winnipeg and across North America and are concerning.

The investigation is ongoing.