Around noon, one of the police officers was shopping in the mall when he saw a store clerk chasing a man who was carrying a lot of goods and was trying to run out of the store, police said in a press release on Friday. The off-duty officer followed outside and saw what were two other men carrying goods. He identified himself as a police officer and ordered them to return to the store. At that point, one of the men directed another to “spray” him and one of the men pulled out a box of bear spray, pointing it at the officer. As the three suspects ran towards a bus, a man approached the police officer, identified himself as another off-duty officer and offered his help. The three alleged thieves boarded the bus, followed by off-duty officers. After the men identified themselves as police officers, all three suspects got off the bus and confronted the police, enforcing them, while a man left a bear spray. The policemen managed to grab the man with the Bear Spray, who told him that he had been arrested, however, he flew a bear spray directly to the face of one of the police officers. All three fell to the ground as the suspect continued to resist the arrest and spray the chemical irritant. Meanwhile, one of the other men started throwing stones at the police. Policemen in uniform arrived to assist, and managed to arrest the man with the bear spray and the one throwing stones. More police arrived and were able to locate the last man nearby. The two off-duty officers went through a decontamination process, but were not injured otherwise. The three alleged shoplifters were arrested and charged with various offenses, including robbery, theft of less than $ 5,000, assault on a peace officer, resistance to a peace officer and assault with a firearm. They are all in custody. More from CBC Manitoba:
