WINNIPEG

Vehicle plows officer; teens charged

ctvwinnipeg.ca Published Tuesday, April 29, 2008 2:07PM CST

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Police have arrested three teen-agers after a police officer was run down by a stolen vehicle and had to be treated in hospital for his injuries.

The officer has since been released.

It happened Monday night at around 8:30. Members of the Winnipeg Police Service Stolen Auto Unit were in the North End looking for a Level 4 car thief who had removed an electronic monitoring device from his ankle. Level 4 is the category describing the most chronic auto thieves.

Instead, police discovered another stolen vehicle near College Avenue and Sinclair Street.

Police say they tried to contain the SUV with their cruiser car. An officer got out of the vehicle to address the driver. That's when the stolen vehicle began ramming the police vehicle. The officer who was outside the vehicle was hit.

Police say during the ordeal an officer discharged his firearm. Police did not say which officer fired the shots, how many shots were fired, or if anyone or anything was hit.

A short time later, police arrested a 15-year-old boy and two 15-year-old girls in the Garden Grove area - near Haddon Road and Tallman Street.

"They dragged him through here and they arrested him," said Diego Moncado "That's all we really know. We didn't hear anything. They did it all pretty quietly."

Car thieves relish confrontation

Constable Pat Chabidon says drivers of stolen vehicles think nothing of smashing into police cars, going over curbs or driving onto sidewalks. "They seem to relish this confrontation with police, and what kind of damage they can cause," he said. "We're probably more concerned for the safety of the public when someone like this is out there doing this."

This is the fourth incident in the past few months where officers have discharged their weapons to stop the threat of a stolen car.

The most high profile was on Feb. 25, when the driver of a stolen vehicle tried to run over an officer in the parking lot of Polo Park Shopping Centre. The officer fired a shot at the vehicle in an attempt to stop it. The suspects took off and the stolen car was found later that night. Police have arrested and charged a 17-year-old boy and a 16 year-old boy.

CTV News has learned the officer involved in this latest incident was also involved in the Polo Park incident.

The union representing Winnipeg police officers -- the Winnipeg Police Association -- said since more car thieves are using vehicles as weapons, governments and judges have to get tougher before someone gets killed. President Mike Sutherland said high risk offenders need to be locked up.

"The problem is that the people on the front lines and the people who live in the neighbourhoods where a lot of these offences are being committed are the ones at risk and paying the price for a lack of action."

Youth program showing success

While many would like to see repeat offenders locked up, Liz Wolff has a different idea. Wolff works at New Directions' Empowering Justice Program and said she'd rather focus on ways to teach the worst offenders to move away from crime.

"We can't throw them away," she said. "Throwing them in jail isn't going to do anything. We know that when they're in jail -- they learn more and more about how to be criminal."

The program is where Level 4 offenders get counseling, attend classes, and take part in evening recreational activities. 51 youths have been attached to the program since last September. Wolff said only two have reoffended.

"We had a murder incident in the community and one of our auto-theft boys chose to be here instead of out with his gang brothers and so we know that we're experiencing success," she said.

The boy is charged with:

Dangerous Operation of a Motor Vehicle
Assault with a Weapon
Flight from Police
Possess Property Obtained by Crime
Two counts of Theft over $5,000
Six counts of Fail to Comply Probation
Two Warrants for Failure to Comply with Probation and Failure to Comply with a Sentence

One of the girls is charged with: