Police are hunting for a hit-and-run driver after a woman was seriously injured Monday night.
The 51-year-old is in a Vancouver hospital with head injuries and a broken ankle.
Whitehorse RCMP’s Cpl. Natasha Dunmall said the woman was found lying in the street near the intersection of McIntyre Drive and McLennan Road at approximately 9:30 p.m.
Based on her injuries, police believe she was hit by a vehicle that left the scene.
Dunmall said the woman had tread marks on her clothes when she was found.
The woman was taken to Whitehorse General Hospital, and later medevaced to Vancouver General Hospital in serious but stable condition.
An RCMP collision reconstructionist has been to the scene, but it is to early to release any information about the size or type of vehicle that hit the woman or how fast it was going, Dunmall said yesterday.
Police are appealing for witnesses to come forward.
At the same time they are urging the driver to turn themselves in.
“It’s never easy to come forward to say that you’ve struck an individual,” Dunmall said.
“But to do it now is easier than to wait later down the road to explain why you didn’t come forward.”
Dunmall also encouraged the public to come forward with information.
Kwanlin Dun Chief Doris Bill echoed the same sentiment.
“We are urging anyone with any information to come forward, either to the RCMP or Kwanlin Dun justice department,” she said Tuesday.
Bill confirmed that the injured woman is a member of the First Nation.
Bill said the lighting conditions in the area are poor. She couldn’t say whether the specific spot where the woman was hit had a light out.
“A number of people have commented that it’s an area that’s fairly dark,” she said.
Bill said the community has quite a few lights that are out and some only work part of the time.
According to the chief, the First Nation’s community services branch called ATCO Electric, the company in charge of the lights, a few weeks ago to ask about lighting in the entire community.
ATCO spokesperson Stephanie Cunha said the company’s records show “all street lights in the McIntyre area are on, and that any that have been reported to be out in the last two years have been fixed.”
Cunha suggested that some of that lights that may appear burned out could actually be ones that have been intentionally shut down. The company is currently in year three of a four-year project to upgrade the electrical system in the McIntyre area, she said.
As part of the project, ATCO has had to temporarily replace some of the steel streetlights in the community with streetlights on wood poles, she said.
While the steel versions may be out, the wooden ones are placed no more than six feet away, she said.
There’s no difference in the amount of light that the wood streetlights produce compared to the metal ones, she said.
Cunha said she couldn’t confirm or deny whether the First Nation had asked about lighting in the entire community.
Dunmall said it’s too early to comment on the lighting at the time of the collision.
“We can’t speak to the lighting. We are still piecing together all the pieces.”
Anyone with information on this collision is urged to call Whitehorse RCMP at 667-5555 or the Kwanlin Dun First Nation’s Justice office at 633-7850.
Contact Ashley Joannou at
ashleyj@yukon-news.com