Two men suffer serious injuries while riding in box of stolen truck: Winnipeg police

Manitoba's police watchdog is investigating after a stolen truck crashed into a police cruiser in South Osborne, resulting in multiple injuries.

According to the Independent Investigation Unit (IIU), the owner of a Ford F-150 saw two people stealing his truck in the 800 block of Dudley Avenue on Saturday at 7:45 p.m. The owner and a friend entered the box and called 911, but the youths in the truck sped away with the men still in the box.

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Police said officers began converging in the area based on "real-time directions" from the two men in the back.

"Efforts to disembark from the box of the truck were not successful due to the erratic driving and extreme rates of speed," police said in a news release.

A tire deflation device was brought out in the area of Brandon Avenue and Osborne Street. The truck continued down a back lane in the area and hit a WPS K9 Unit vehicle.

The force of the crash caused the truck owner and his friend to be ejected from the box. Both males suffered serious injuries and were taken to hospital.

The IIU said the truck owner suffered multiple fractures, including the skull, spine and clavicle, which are serious injuries they need to investigate.

A church in the area suffered significant damage during the incident.

The two youths were arrested near the scene of the crash. They suffered non-serious injuries and were later released from hospital.

The police canine officer was taken to hospital with injuries and later released. The police service dog was also in the vehicle and was not injured.

Police said the youth and victims were previously known to each other.

A 17-year-old male has been charged with numerous offences, including two counts of dangerous driving causing bodily harm, two counts of causing bodily harm by criminal negligence, driving without a licence, impaired operation of a motor vehicle and theft over $5,000. He was detained in custody.

A 15-year-old female was charged with theft over $5,000 and was released on an undertaking.

The charges have not been proven in court.

The IIU is asking any witnesses or people with information or video footage to call investigators at 1-844-667-6060.