Video shows driver strike infant in stroller at Montreal intersection; police investigating
A one-year-old child has survived a hit-and-run after a woman's stroller was struck by a vehicle while she was crossing the street in Montreal's Outremont borough last week, police say.
The incident was captured by a surveillance camera outside the home of a resident who lives near the site of the crash, at the intersection of Bloomfield and Lajoie avenues.
The video was posted online as community members are shocked by the incident and are hoping the driver is found by police.
The video shows the driver slowly approach the intersection, but instead of stopping at the stop sign, the vehicle continues driving, pushing the stroller into the street.
The person pushing the stroller does not appear to be struck by the vehicle.
The homeowner who recorded the video confirmed to CTV News it was recorded the afternoon of Nov. 16.
Paramedics and Montreal police said they received a 911 call around 2:40 p.m. and responded to the scene of the crash.
When the police officer arrived the woman and child had already been sent to hospital as a precaution. The infant was uninjured.
“Luckily, in the stroller, the baby was really well attached,” said police spokesperson Jean-Pierre Brabant.
The baby “did not fall from the stroller, so that avoided really major injuries.”
"Like all of you, I am in shock after watching this video," wrote Outremont Mayor Laurent Desbois in a tweet late Tuesday night.
"I am in communication with the SPVM and I hope that they will be able to quickly identify the driver of the vehicle."
Police said the suspect vehicle was black but did not have any other descriptions.
The police investigation is still ongoing. Anyone with information on the incident is encouraged to contact police through the Info-Crime line: (514) 393-1133.
CONCERNS OVER MOTIVATION
Community members are waiting eagerly for more information from police as some fear the act may have been intentional.
Mayer Feig, a community activist and a director of Hatzoloh of Montreal, a Jewish first responders service, said he’s hoping the investigation uncovers more details.
“Either it was just a very distracted driver. Or it was a deliberate act,” he said. “We trust the police that they will do their investigation thoroughly and find the person.”
Feig says the woman and child are members of a large Hasidic Jewish community in Montreal’s Outremont Borough.
“They look very Jewish, they dress differently than others,” said Marvin Rotrand, National Human Rights Director for B’nai Brith, a Jewish advocacy group which has opened its own investigation into the incident on concerns that the event was hate-related.
“This is something we will monitor as a possible anti-Semitic incident,” he said.
Police are not ruling out the possibility that hate was a contributing factor, but they say it’s too early to conclude anything. Quebec’s Council of Hasidic Jews wrote a public statement Wednesday urging community members to maintain “the utmost caution in any premature evaluation of this unfortunate event.”
“At this time in the investigation, we don’t have much information,” said Brabant. “We met with some witnesses, we have some footage from different surveillance cameras.”
Quebec’s Public Security Minister Francois Bonnardel called the incident a “horrible situation.”
“There is an inquiry right now,” he said on Wednesday. “We’ll see what happened, why this happened, and after that, we will get some additional answers.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.
What do weight loss drugs mean for a diet industry built on eating less and exercising more?
Recent injected drugs like Wegovy and its predecessor, the diabetes medication Ozempic, are reshaping the health and fitness industries.
He replaced Mickey Mantle. Now baseball's oldest living major leaguer is turning 100
The oldest living former major leaguer, Art Schallock turns 100 on Thursday and is being celebrated in the Bay Area and beyond as the milestone approaches.
What a urologist wants you to know about male infertility
When opposite sex couples are trying and failing to get pregnant, the attention often focuses on the woman. That’s not always the case.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Made-in-Newfoundland vodka claims top prize at worldwide competition
A Newfoundland-made vodka has been named one of the world’s best by judges at this year’s World Vodka Awards.