Meth behind 2 recent attacks on officers, security guards, Winnipeg police say

Police say methamphetamine use is to blame for two more violent incidents in Winnipeg this week.

Around midnight Wednesday night, police say, aman was arrestedafter he attacked officers who caught him riding his bicycle on the sidewalk near Aikins Street and Burrows Avenue.

They were writing the man a ticket when he took off, riding his bike into oncoming traffic on Alfred Avenue near Charles Street.

When the officers caught up with the suspect theysay he tried to push one of them to the ground and armed himself with a bike pump while trying to avoid arrest.

The officers were able to disarm the man and took him into custody.

Police spokesperson Const. Jay Murray says the suspect was high on meth at the time.

"These are unpredictable encounters," he said. "Officers train for a myriad of scenarios, but when you're dealing with an individual like this, every encounter is different."

A Winnipeg man, 31, is charged with assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest.

Security guards threatened with needle

In a separate incident on Wednesday a woman allegedly threatened to stab security guards with a needle after getting caught shoplifting at Portage Place shopping centre.

Police say she pulled a box of perfume out of her bag and ran from guards after setting off a security alarm while leaving a store in the mall shortly before 6 p.m.

When the guards caught up with the woman, police say, she punched one of the guards, spat on a second, and threatened to stab them both with a needle.

The woman, who police say was high on meth at the time, was found to have a needle when she was taken into custody a short time later.

A woman, 28, from Winnipeg has been charged with theft under $5,000, two counts of assault and one count of uttering threats.

The arrests came the same day a propane tank was thrown through the back window of a police car, and a shovel was thrown at an officer in two other incidents police say were fuelled by meth.

Murray says the drugposes "significant challenges" for officers.

"Methamphetamine almost always results in that agitated, panicked and paranoid state," he said.

"Traditionally when we train we tend to have an expectation to how somebody might react when we use certain words, when we try to de-escalate but it's all thrown out the door when you're dealing with somebody who's high on methamphetamine."

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