Crime Spree Ends With Arrests of Johnson & Struve

WINNIPEG – Police have arrested a man and woman who have been on a crime spree that started on April 6th of this year.

Police said they learned of the first crime on April 6, 2018, at around 6:00 PM. A 60-year-old woman reported that she was driving near St. Mary’s Road and Morier Avenue when she was stopped by three men who told her that she was dragging something. When the woman got out to check her Plymouth Voyager, one of the men got in and drove away.

Then on May 25, 2018, a 57-year-old woman reported that her wallet was stolen while she was loading shopping bags into her car in a parking lot on Lakewood Blvd. The victim said that a car slowly drove by her with a woman hanging out the passenger side door. As the car was moving, the woman reached into the victim’s purse, pulled out her wallet and the car drove away.

The next was on June 19, 2018, when an man reported that his Dodge Caravan was stolen from the 400 block of Monreith Street.

The crime spree continued, on July 24, 2018, a man reported that his bike was stolen from his garage on Popko Crescent.

July 30, 2018, at approximately 4:20 a.m., a break and entered into a business in the 1500 block of Main Street was reported. Keys were stolen from inside and three vehicles were stolen from the parking lot. One of the vehicles, a Chevrolet panel van, was recovered later the same day. A 2011 grey Dodge Caravan and a 2004 brown Pontiac Montana have not been located.

A man reported a 2002 Chevrolet Silverado was stolen from the first 100 block of Leila Ave on August 8th, 2018.

The man and woman were not done stealing, on August 11th a 2011 Jayco trailer was reported stolen between August 8 – 11th from a storage compound on Main Street. A man reported his 2010 Chevrolet Silverado stolen from a parking on Leila Avenue and later that day a man reported the licence plates from his Ford F150 were stolen.

Police said just before 3:00 PM on August 11th, the suspects, the man and woman, were driving the stolen 2010 Chevrolet Silverado with the stolen Jayco trailer attached. The driver backed over a motorcycle, parked in an alley of Royal Avenue, narrowly missing the driver. The driver continued to back up, through a fence and sped away eastbound on Kingsbury Ave. The two abandoned the truck and trailer and got away on foot. Police seized, from the stolen truck and trailer the following items inside:

the previously stolen bicycle
registration for the stolen panel van
a licence plate belonging to stolen 2002 Chevy Silverado
identification belonging to the victim of stolen wallet
a driver’s licence belonging to the victim of the vehicle robbery
a cheque from inside the stolen Dodge Caravan
forged cheques belonging to a male from Gypsumville, Manitoba

At 3:00 PM., the two accused stole a Volkswagon Jetta from Seven Oaks Avenue which was recovered in the parking lot of a business by the RCMP in Lockport.

Finally police caught up with the pair on Tuesday night with help from RCMP. The male suspect was driving a stolen Kia Rio near Main Street and Riverbend Avenue. The vehicle had a licence plate stolen from a Nissan Versa. Shortly after, while driving along the north perimeter highway, the suspect cut off a vehicle, colliding with it and causing extensive damage.

The accident was in the area of the Perimeter Highway and Highway 7. RCMP responded to the collision and took the man and woman into custody.

Michael Ray Johnson, a 45-year-old man, has been charged with: