Alleged carjacker caught hiding in recycling bin behind Winnipeg apartment building

Two passengers were forced from a vehicle by a man and a woman brandishing weapons in a carjacking early Saturday, Winnipeg police say.

The passengers were sitting in the vehicle on St. Mary's Road near Tache Avenue waiting for the driver to return from a nearby restaurant around midnight.

An armed man and woman approached the vehicleand told the passengers to get out.

The passengers fled, but by that time the driver had returned and tried to get in the front passenger door.

The carjackers put the vehicle in reverse and sped off, forcing the driver to jump away.

Police found the stolen vehicle abandoned on Enfield Crescent, near St. Mary's Road, a short time later.

A police dog brought in to track the carjackers led officersto a nearby recycling bin behind an apartment building. A41-year-old man was found hiding inside the blue recycling bin.

"You open up a recycling bin and you don't expect to find someone hiding within it," said police spokesperson Const. Jay Murray. "How they got into it is kind of a head-scratcher."

The same canine unit also found a 31-year-old woman nearby on Kitson Street.

The man and woman face a slew of charges including theft of a motor vehicle, possessing a weapon and robbery.

More from CBC Manitoba:

• Winnipeg police investigate North End shooting
• 'Anybody can play': All about spongee, the 'cult' sport of Winnipeg
• Pop-up travelling wine bar showcases Winnipeg's underused licensed spaces