A 30 year old Vancouver woman is dead after allegedly being struck by a hit and run driver early this morning in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.
Vancouver Police are appealing to the driver to come forward.
Around 4:10 Saturday morning, witnesses reported seeing a car strike a pedestrian near the intersection of East Hastings Street and Jackson Avenue. The driver initially stopped, but left the scene before he was identified.
The injured woman lay in the roadway until medical help arrived. She was rushed to hospital but succumbed to her injuries around 8:30 this morning. The identity of the victim is being withheld until next-of-kin are notified.
Investigators are now following up on a number of leads in an effort to identify the driver, who is believed to be a white male, 25 to 35 years of age, with dirty blonde hair. A female passenger in the vehicle is also believed to be about the same age.
Evidence collected at the scene has already helped VPD collision investigators to identify the make and model of the suspect vehicle. Efforts are now underway to match up a licence plate number to that vehicle.
Police are searching for a black, 2010 Lexus IS 350 convertible, with front end damage.
“This is a senseless loss of life,” says VPD spokesperson Constable Jana McGuinness. “Decisions were made at the time by the driver, but now the right thing to do is to come forward.”
Anyone with information, or who may have witnessed the collision, is asked to contact the VPD Collision Investigation Unit at 604-717-3012 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
Vancouver has recorded 11 traffic fatalities in 2011, four in just the past week. There were a total of nine traffic fatalities in 2010 and 16 in 2009.
