A violent break and enter has people in a southern Manitoba town on edge.
A Niverville man was stabbed after confronting an intruder in his garage shortly after midnight Thursday.
It's not the first time this year something like this has happened in the community, but this latest incident has RCMP and the town’s mayor sending a message to residents.
Mitch Dux, 52, said his step daughter heard something in the garage Thursday, so he went to check what it was.
He was surprised to see a person with a flashlight rummaging through his stuff.
"That's when I screamed in there saying ‘you've been caught. You may as well come out,’" Dux explained.
At first, Dux said the man in the garage tried hiding, then attempted to escape.
"When he went to bolt out the door, I grabbed him,” Dux said. “He turned around, faced me, did a windmill punch and I thought he was going to hit me in the stomach, but no. He had an object in his hand and he stabbed me."
Dux wrestled with the suspect before realizing he had been stabbed.
"I didn't notice. The adrenaline was just rushing,” Dux said. “I got up, walked away and realized I was stabbed.”
He called out for help. His wife phoned 911 and his stepson intervened.
"I found out he got stabbed, so I was just like 'let him (the suspect) go,'” said stepson Rory Hookham. “I didn't want to get stabbed either, so I was just kind of like 'the cops will find him.' Then (the suspect) just took off running."
Dux said he had no choice but to let the suspect go.
“I just stopped everything,” he said. “Went into the house and laid down…waited for the ambulance.”
Dux was airlifted to Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg. The wound, below his ribs, required three stitches.
Back in January a 43-year-old man was seriously hurt but survived a machete attack at his home in Niverville after confronting three men in his garage.
NIVERVILLE MAYOR CAUTIONS RESIDENTS
Niverville Mayor Myron Dyck said his thoughts are with the victim of this latest incident, but he also has a message for residents.
"I appreciate that there's concern that these individuals may be wanting to come into one's home and there's fear for that, but the first call should always be to the RCMP rather than thinking one's going to be a hero,” Dyck said. “I don’t want to see anyone get hurt, heaven forbid, I don’t want to see anyone lose their life.”
RCMP spokesperson Tara Seel said even if it turns out be nothing, it's better to be safe than sorry.
"People don't want to call 911 for something that they don't need a police response for and we certainly appreciate that,” Seel said. “But if you're looking out your window and you see that something's not quite right or you just know at that time of night there shouldn't be anything going on in the garage, that is the time to call police, absolutely."
RCMP arrested the suspect at his home in Niverville within an hour of the stabbing.
Dux wishes he would've done things differently by staying in the house and calling police.
"I learned the hard way and it's not fun,” Dux said. “I got stabbed for it and it's not worth it."
A 20-year-old Niverville man is facing multiple charges including break and enter and assault with a weapon.
Dux said he knows who the man is, but doesn't know why he was in his garage.
