Winnipeg man attacked for shoes

Last Updated: Tuesday, August 10, 2010 | 8:02 PM CST By James Turner, CBC News

A witness to a brutal assault in Winnipeg's West End Tuesday evening says a roving pack of young gang members attacked an innocent man for his shoes.

Police were called to the lane behind 464 Young St. for a report of an assault at about 5:45 p.m. CT.

A man, who appeared to be in his 20s, was taken by paramedics to a nearby hospital for treatment.

While the man appeared conscious when he was wheeled away on a stretcher, his current medical condition wasn't immediately known.

Roger Therrien, 40, said he witnessed the attack and comforted the man as he lay bleeding heavily from a head wound.

Therrien said the man was walking up the lane when as many as five young males approached him and demanded his shoes.

When the victim refused to hand them over, the males waited until his back was turned and used a large piece of broken concrete to hit him in the back of the head.

"They basically ripped his shoes right off him in the back lane," Therrien said. The culprits then fled south down the back lane towards Ellice Avenue and vanished.

Police were seen taking a piece of concrete with them when they left the scene at about 6:30 p.m. They have not yet issued a statement about what happened.

Therrien said he stayed with the victim, trying to keep him talking so he didn't lapse into unconsciousness. His hands were visibly stained with a large amount of blood.

Gang attack

"I was holding his wounds, keeping him stable until paramedics showed up .… Hopefully, he makes it, hopefully, he's OK," he said.

Therrien said he believes the culprits were members of the Mad Cowz street gang, which for years has had a strong foothold as a violent force that largely controls the area's crack cocaine trade.

Members of the gang have been implicated in a number of shootings, homicides and drug deals in the West End in recent years.

Yvonne St. Germain, who lives near where the attack took place, said area gang members seem to act with impunity, and are often spotted roaming the area and cutting through people's yards.

"It's like they own the properties," St. Germain said.

"There's too much drama around here," she said.

"It's pretty stupid. Nobody can own a nice pair of shoes or anything. [The assault victim] probably worked hard to get his own things," St. Germain said.

From: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2010/08/10/man-attack-west-end-shoes.html