Winnipeg police officer arrested, charged with assaulting intimate partner: WPS

A Winnipeg police officer is in custody after being arrested and charged with assaulting an intimate partner, the service said.

The officer, a man in his 40s, has been with the Winnipeg Police Service (WPS) for 20 years, police said in a news release. He was arrested on Wednesday after west district patrol officers responded to a domestic-related call.

The unnamed officer is accused of breaking into a woman’s home, threatening to kill her and assaulting her, police said. When WPS officers arrived at the woman’s home, shortly after 10:18 p.m., they allegedly observed the man assaulting her inside of the home.

He was arrested at the scene and has since been charged with sexual assault, assault by choking, suffocating or strangling against intimate partner, overcome resistance by attempting to choke, suffocate or strangle another person, and breaking and entering to commit assault in a home. Two charges of uttering threats to cause death or bodily harm were also laid.

WPS said it is not providing the officer’s name “to protect the identity of the victim.”

She received medical attention at the scene. Police did not say whether she was transported to hospital.

The Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba, the province’s police watchdog, has been notified of the allegations against the officer, according to WPS.