Construction worker killed in hit-and-run near Eglinton Ave. E. and Midland Rd.
Special Investigations Unit and Toronto Police are investigating a hit-and-run Wednesday morning that killed a construction worker and injured a police officer.
The Special Investigations Unit is looking into a fatal hit-and-run at Eglinton Ave. and Midland Ave. A construction worker was killed and a police officer injured. (Victor Biro) By Brennan DohertyStaff Reporter
Wed., Oct. 12, 2016
The driver who struck and killed a construction worker near Brimley Rd. on Wednesday morning was allegedly fleeing from police, according to the Special Investigations Unit.
Const. Craig Brister said a pedestrian was stuck by a vehicle near Eglinton Ave. E. and Midland Rd., at around 11:15 a.m.
The driver fled the scene in what police believe to be a white BMW.
Shortly before the construction worker was hit, the SIU said in a statement, a Toronto Police officer tried to pull over a white BMW near Lawrence Ave E. and Midland Rd., but it fled.
Paramedics said the construction worker, a man, was pronounced dead at the scene. Neither the victim’s name, nor his exact age, has been confirmed.
An officer at the scene of the accident suffered minor injuries, police said.
Live TV footage of the scene showed a single heavy, brown boot lying in the closed-off intersection of Eglinton Ave. E. and Midland Rd.
Jamilah Kukobar was walking towards Eglinton and Midland when she began smelling burned tires.
“So I look to the right and [I felt] a lot of wind . . . and there was a car speeding really fast,” she told a reporter at the scene.
“It’s pretty scary.”
The car got “pretty close” to her, Kukobar said. She added that the driver never mounted the sidewalk.
A white BMW, police said, was last seen driving northbound along Gilder Dr., just east of Eglinton and Midland.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the SIU was also investigating the hit-and-run.
The oversight agency is notified when a civilian is seriously injured, killed, or sexually assaulted during an encounter with police.
By law, Toronto Police are forbidden from making any additional public statements about the investigation until it concludes.
Eastbound lanes along Eglinton Ave. have been closed between Kennedy Rd. to Midland Ave. Gilder Dr., from Eglinton to Midland, has also been closed.
No arrests have been made.