Bus stop random attack spotlights worrisome trend: police

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 09/06/2022 (930 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A 55-year-old man has suffered “extraordinary” injuries after an unprovoked attack while waiting for a bus in the West End.

Officers were called to the intersection of Notre Dame Avenue and Arlington Street at about 11 p.m. Thursday for a report of an assault, the Winnipeg Police Service said Friday. Numerous people in the area had witnessed the attack.

Police found the man suffering multiple injuries to the upper body, including wounds to his head.

“This was a particularly heinous assault,” WPS spokeswoman Const. Dani McKinnon told the Free Press.

“This isn’t just a situation of somebody getting pushed or punched… (the charge laid) means to wound, maim or harm somebody very badly… For privacy reasons, we can’t list the injuries, but I can say that they were extraordinary.”

The seemingly-random attack is the latest against a Transit rider — a concerning trend McKinnon said is increasing.

“Anecdotally, it appears to be a rise,” she said, noting she did not have hard statistics available Friday. “It’s supposed to be a safe means of transportation — you wouldn’t expect it.”

McKinnon noted police work with Winnipeg Transit to try to keep the system and stops safe. One area of particular concern, where officers patrol regularly, is the downtown Graham Avenue bus corridor.

On June 3, a Transit bus waiting at the corridor was filled with bear spray following a robbery. Police found a suspect nearby and arrested him, after using a Taser.

“The buses often will just pile up, one after the other, so that’s a spot where they converge and where there’s a number of people waiting at the shelters,” McKinnon said.

“We know that quite often the shelters are being occupied by people who aren’t passengers — that sometimes poses an issue as well.”

The man injured Thursday has since been released from hospital.

“This gentleman was literally just waiting for the bus when he was attacked, completely in an unprovoked fashion,” McKinnon said. “What’s also particularly concerning about this attack is that it wasn’t a robbery-motivated situation.”

Nathaniel Aaron Pittman, 26, of Winnipeg, is charged with assault causing bodily harm. He was detained in custody.

In 2016, Pittman pleaded guilty to carrying a concealed weapon and got 18 months supervised probation, a review of court records shows.

On mid-day Friday, Troy and Stephen Alarie were waiting for a bus at one of the four stops at the Notre Dame Avenue and Arlington Street, after getting off work at a local drainage company.

The brothers have lived their whole lives in the North and West Ends, Troy said.

“This is the ‘hood, man. It’s always violent around here,” said the 36-year-old. “We want public transportation to be safe — I think they need some improvements — but what are you going to do?”

Both men said they’d like to see an increase in police or security presence.

“Some security once in a while, guys checking in, keeping things clean — that would help,” said Stephen, 31.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @erik_pindera