The Montreal police are appealing to the public to find “one or more suspects” in connection with the fatal hit and run that occurred Sunday evening which claimed the life of a young 22-year-old snowboarder in the Centre-Sud. Rewards of up to $3,000 could be offered, in an effort to expedite the investigation.
In a brief statement issued Wednesday, the Montreal Police Service (SPVM) also confirms that the vehicle involved in the hit and run which was found after the fact, at the corner of Sicard and Notre-Dame Est streets in Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, is a black Jeep Cherokee.
On Tuesday, SPVM spokesperson Jeanne Drouin indicated that investigators are currently evaluating “several possibilities”. “The license plate can give us the owner of the vehicle, but then there are several other things to see. It is possible that the vehicle was stolen, loaned, for example. There are various possibilities,” she said.
To advance the investigation, the authorities therefore invite anyone who has relevant information to transmit on “one or more suspects”, as well as potential witnesses to the collision, to contact 911 or their neighborhood station.
“It is also possible to file a report anonymously and confidentially with Info-Crime Montreal at 514 393-1133 or online. Rewards of up to $3,000 can be awarded for information leading to the arrest of suspects, ”also specifies the Montreal police force.
The 22-year-old was going from east to west on a skateboard on Sunday on rue Sainte-Catherine, when he was hit by a motorist coming from the north, at the intersection of avenue de Lorimier. The driver of the vehicle left the scene following the impact, committing a hit and run.
The death of the young man was then confirmed at the beginning of the day, Monday, in a hospital center where he had been rushed shortly after the fact.
In the metropolis, the event revived the debate on the need to develop the intersections of busy arteries, to protect the most vulnerable users, at a time when the number of hit and run offenses is rising sharply in Montreal. The SPVM recorded 5,246 hit and run offenses in 2022, an increase of 13%.
“It’s really amazing to see that there are so many hit-and-runs, that so many people don’t bother to stop and help someone they themselves have caught. For us, it’s a bit difficult to explain it, ”illustrated Tuesday the director general of Piétons Québec, Sandrine Cabana-Degani.
On Twitter, Monday, the mayor of Montreal, Valérie Plante, had also conceded that it is “urgent to do more to secure active travel”. “We continue to accelerate our actions,” she promised, without giving further details.