PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE — A Mountie in Manitoba has been charged with stopping what he believed to be a fleeing fugitive cyclist by slamming into the suspect with his police cruiser. Manitoba’s police watchdog says the charges of dangerous driving and assault with a weapon stem from an incident in Portage la Prairie a year-and-a-half ago. The Independent Investigation Unit says on March 26, 2025, officers detained two people they thought might have been tied to an earlier crime. As one officer spoke to one of the suspects, the other suspect rode away on his bicycle. The watchdog says the second officer mistakenly believed that man had been arrested and was fleeing, so activated his emergency lights and struck the man with his cruiser. The cyclist had surgery for injuries to his leg and shoulder. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 26, 2026. The Canadian Press
