Police officer dragged behind stolen truck during arrest attempt

A Winnipeg police officer is in hospital after being dragged behind a stolen truck early Friday.

The 10-year-veteran of the service was responding to reports a man in a truck had been seen checking door handles onBrookstonePlace nearWaverley Street when he pulled the truck over onWaverleyStreet near John Angus Drive at about 4:30 a.m., police said in a news release.

Discovering the truck had been stolen, the officer was attempting to make an arrest when the suspect suddenly stepped on the gas, dragging the officer for a "substantial distance,"according topolice spokespersonConst. Jay Murray.

"The officer consequently suffered a number of injuries that will probably keep him in hospital for a little bit," Murray told reporters.

Police are asking for the public's help tracking downthe man behind the wheel. He was last seen wearing a dark hat with glasses and driving a blue 2014 Toyota Tacoma double-cab truck with Manitoba plates HJW 249.

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of the man and/or the truck is asked to call 911.

Security guards assaulted with bicycle

Police have also made an arrest in another assault on peace officers that saw a man allegedly use hisbicycle as a weapon againstHealth Sciences Centre security guards earlier this week.

The guards were escorting the man out of the hospital around 5:30 a.m. Wednesday after he went into awomen's staff washroom when police say he began threateningto kill the guards.

The man allegedly threwhis bicycle at the guardsonce they got him outside.

Both guards were hit by the bike, one sufferingminor injuries.

"Security personnel quite often face dangerous situations where they can be threatened and assaulted, and this incident further highlights that risk they face as part of the job," Murray said.

A 26-year-old man from Winnipeg has been charged with two counts of assaulting a peace officer with a weapon and three counts of uttering threats to cause death or bodily harm.

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