Vehicle in recent fatal hit, run found
WINNIPEG police have located the vehicle involved in the city’s latest fatal hit-and-run, but have not yet made any arrests in the spate of collisions that killed five people in little more than a week.
Three of the five who have lost their lives on city streets since Oct. 18 were pedestrians, and the drivers in four of the fatal collisions fled the scenes.
Most recently, a 56-year-old man was struck at Notre Dame Avenue and Keewatin Street by a white or light-coloured SUV at about 2:45 a.m. Monday. He later died in hospital.
On Tuesday, traffic investigators were called to the first 100 block of Scotwoods Drive about a damaged, abandoned 2019 Hyundai Tucson.
The Hyundai also hit a parked vehicle on the Charleswood street before it was abandoned, police said Wednesday.
Winnipeg Police Service spokesman Const. Claude Chancy said police are concerned about the uptick in deaths and traffic division investigators are working diligently on each case.
“It’s something that is not common in our city, it’s definitely elevated, so we have put our resources in effect regarding the investigations,” he said.
“There’s multiple units that form the traffic division, and collision reconstruction as well, that are involved in trying to piece out details and information that are provided to us in order to find the people responsible — especially in the cases where it involves hit-and-run fatalities.”
Winnipeg police have investigated eight hit-and-runs so far in 2022, six of which have been fatal, police statistics show.
That’s a jump over last year, when police laid a total of five charges related to leaving a collision scene, including two of failure to stop after an accident resulting in death. In 2020, police laid a total of nine related charges, including one of failing to stop after an accident resulting in death.
On Oct. 21, a woman in her 40s was struck and injured near Marion Avenue and Archibald Street.
On Oct. 18, David Bunguke, 17, was killed after a vehicle driven by a friend struck a hydro pole on St Mary’s Road. The driver, an 18-year-old male, was also seriously injured.
On Oct. 16, Shannon Joan Marie Romaniuk, 24, was killed near the intersection of Portage Avenue and Berry Street. The driver fled in a silver or grey late-model SUV.
Just 18 hours prior, Corazon Manguerra, 81, was critically injured when the vehicle she was in was struck in a hit-and-run near Sargent Avenue and Empress Street. She died in hospital.
The driver and occupants of the other vehicle ran away before police arrived, leaving the wrecked Dodge Caravan on the bank of Omand’s Creek.
Chancy said traffic investigators use, among other tools, a scanner to create 3D images of collision scenes. Information from the public — and surveillance footage — are also “instrumental” in collision investigations.
“It can establish a timeline… of the involvement of people or vehicles, and it can also establish the manner of driving prior to and post incident as well,” Chancy said of video footage of vehicles.
He added police received a tip from a member of the public about the Hyundai reportedly involved in the Notre Dame Avenue hit-and-run just hours after putting out a request for help.
Police have asked for anyone who witnessed the collisions or might have seen the vehicles involved or have dash camera or home surveillance footage to call investigators at 204-986-7085 or Crime Stoppers at 204-786-8477.
erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @erik_pindera