Man charged with assault after improvised torch aimed at Winnipeg Transit supervisor: police

A 23-year-old man has been charged with assault with a weapon after police say he aimed a torch, made using a can of hairspray and a lighter, at a Winnipeg Transit supervisor Friday morning.

The assault happened just before 8 a.m. on Graham Avenue and Fort Street in downtown Winnipeg, Winnipeg police said in a Saturday news release.

The Transit supervisor told police he got on a bus at Graham and Fort to wake a man who had been sleeping in the bus for several hours.

The man left the bus after the supervisor woke him up, but once outside, he created a torch using the hairspray and lighter, which he then aimed at the supervisor, police said. The Transit employee pushed the man to the ground and disarmed him, according to police.

The man was arrested by police and charged with assault with a weapon.

The bus supervisor was not injured.