Video shows car hitting a baby carriage, Montreal police investigating as hit-and-run

“My kids are not safe,” says Kela Tardieu Manigat, a Montrealer shocked by a video showing a car going through a stop sign and striking a baby carriage at an intersection in Outremont. The baby was not hurt. Pamela Pagano reports.

The Montreal police (SPVM) is investigating a video which shows a vehicle hitting a baby carriage being pushed by a mother at an intersection in Montreal’s Outremont borough.

The one-year-old child in the stroller was not injured in the hit-and-run, but was transported to hospital to be evaluated.

It happened at around 2:40 p.m. on Nov. 16 at the corner of Bloomfield and Lajoie.

“The driver of the vehicle was heading north on Bloomfield and did not stop at the intersection, continuing to hit a stroller with a child inside. The driver then fled the scene,” said Jean-Pierre Brabant, from the SPVM.

Security camera footage from a nearby home of the hit-and-run has been shared on social media by community members – shocked by what happened and asking for help to identify the driver of the car.

The SPVM is also asking for the public’s help to identify the vehicle and driver involved in the hit-and-run. Anyone with information is asked to contact 911 or Info-Crime at 514-393-1133 or through their online form.

B’nai Brith Canada said in a statement on Wednesday it was deeply disturbed by the video footage that seemed to depict the vehicle ramming into a Jewish Orthodox woman and the baby. The organization said it is keeping tabs on the police investigation.

“Please be advised that B’nai Brith and its League for Human Rights are investigating and working closely with the Jewish Hasidic Council of Quebec,” the group said in a statement. “We are in communication with law-enforcement authorities who have informed us the baby is thankfully not injured.”

Brabant says for now the make of the black vehicle cannot be determined in the footage obtained.

“We’re looking for a small black vehicle. We’re asking the driver, if they recognize themselves in the video to come forward,” he said.

Mayer Feig, with Hatzolah, first responders for the Hassidic community living in the area, said one of the members of the organization was cleaning his car at the corner when the incident happened – and went over to assist the woman and baby.

When asked if the Hassidic community believes this was a hate crime, Feig says he can’t say until the driver of the vehicle is met with in order to better understand what happened, adding it could be a case of distracted driving.

Brabant says the Montreal police have met with witnesses and the investigation is ongoing. It is not currently a hate crime investigation.

“There was no verbal contact made between the driver and pedestrian. It is too early to say it was a hate crime but we are investigating a hit and run. We are looking at every hypothesis. Was the driver distracted? We can see on the video there was snow so was their a mechanical problem with the vehicle? We’re still trying to understand what happened but right now everything is on the table,” he explained.

Montreal stroller hit-and-run scene

(CREDIT: Pamela Pagano/CityNews)

The mayor of Outremont also took to Twitter to share his shock after seeing the video, Laurent Debois wrote: “Like all of you, I am in shock after watching this video. I am in communication with the SPVM and I hope that they will be able to quickly identify the driver of the vehicle. Despite all this, I am relieved to hear that the child is doing well.”

Montreal mayor Valérie Plante also tweeted: “The images of the driver accelerating in front of a mother and her baby are incredibly violent. Fortunately, they are safe and sound. The SPVM is conducting an investigation to shed light on this unacceptable incident.”

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