A 37-year-old man is in hospital while police search for the driver of the vehicle that hit him or any witnesses who may have seen the collision.
The investigation into the hit and run began shortly after 11 p.m. on Saturday when a woman driving in the 400 block Brunette Avenue spotted the man lying in the street and called police.
“The person who called us said she was driving along the road, the vehicle in front of her swerved and then she stopped and realized that it was this pedestrian on the road,” said Acting Sgt. Jeff Scott, spokesperson for the New Westminster Police Department.
Police don’t believe the vehicles that passed or swerved around the victim knew there was a person in distress. Because of this, Scott believes it’s possible the person who hit the victim might not even know they hit someone.
“Even if somebody heard an impact on their car, we don’t want to jump to unnecessary conclusions to say they intentionally fled, … they may not have known what it was. To even come forward and speak with us would be great,” he said.
The victim, who is believed to be from Coquitlam, although Scott couldn’t confirm this, was taken to hospital where he remains in stable condition. Evidence collected at the scene suggests the victim was in fact hit by a car, Scott said.
Investigators, however, aren’t sure what time the victim was actually hit. They are now searching for surveillance footage from the area to try and piece together what happened, Scott said.
Anyone with information about the crash or who may have seen something is asked to contact New Westminster police at 604-525-5411.
