Plea for information in fatal hit, run caps deadly year on city streets

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This article was published 28/12/2022 (729 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Every time Kevin Joss learns of another fatal collision in Winnipeg, the immense pain of losing his son in a still-unsolved hit-and-run comes back to the surface.

The number of fatalities on city streets has tripled, with 28 people dying in collisions in 2022, compared with nine in both 2021 and 2020.

According to police figures, collisions killed 16 people in 2019 and 13 in 2018.

“This year, the amount of vehicle and pedestrian accidents or hit-and-runs has just gone through the roof,” Joss said Thursday.

“Every time someone else loses their life or is critically injured or leaves the scene, it sends such a ripple effect through to this family and to others that are going through the same things that we have.”

Winnipeg Police Service central traffic division Const. Aaron Staples, the lead investigator in the 2014 collision that killed 21-year-old Cody Joss, said there is no specific trend behind the spike in fatalities this year.

Still, a number of incidents involved dangerous behaviours such as impaired or distracted driving or speeding.

“2022 was, unfortunately, a terrible year for road fatalities in Winnipeg, and we’re looking to improve those statistics,” Staples said during a news conference at police headquarters.

There have been 41 collisions involving death or serious injury in Winnipeg, as of Dec. 16, said police.

Of those, 19 involved pedestrians, with 12 of them dying.

There have been eight hit-and-runs. In five collisions, the driver was impaired or suspected of being impaired, said police.

Standing next to a framed photo of his smiling son Thursday, tears welled in Joss’s eyes while he renewed his family’s appeal for information to help solve Cody’s death.

“If you are the bearer of any clues or any knowledge of this accident, I want you to take a look at your loved ones and realize it can happen to you,” said Joss. “Everybody says it wouldn’t happen to me. I stand before you and tell you it happened to us.

“If you are holding that info, whether you thought that it was minor, it can all lead to a resolution for this case, some knowledge for our family and for us to begin to heal. Please, folks, I beg of you.”

Cody was walking north on McGregor Street when he was hit by a vehicle travelling west on Inkster Boulevard around 6:45 p.m. on Dec. 19, 2014.

The vehicle fled before police arrived. Cody was taken to Health Sciences Centre, where he later died.

All investigative avenues have been exhausted, but his family and police are hoping someone has information about the vehicle and its occupant or occupants that could help investigators and bring closure to his loved ones.

Joss and Staples appealed to people who have a link to the person or people who were in the vehicle, and may know something.

“Maybe your status, your social status changed, whereas you weren’t able to talk about what transpired and now you can,” said Joss. “It’s not too late. Any little bit of information that you have can really help us out. We need to know what went on, and we need to start healing.”

Joss and police are holding on to hope someone driving in the area around the time of the collision may still have dashcam video footage that shows the vehicle.

Staples said police do not know the type of vehicle that was involved, after receiving varying descriptions.

Investigators have followed up with Manitoba Public Insurance and registered owners of vehicles, but none of the tips has proved fruitful.

“Everybody says it wouldn’t happen to me. I stand before you and tell you it happened to us.”–Kevin Joss

The investigation remains open, with police committed to bringing closure to Cody’s family after an “incredibly difficult” eight years for them, said Staples.

“Unfortunately, to this point, no one has come forward with any video of the event, and no one who has directly been a witness to the actual event,” he said. “It is very rare that a collision like Cody’s goes unsolved, and that’s why we are making such a continued ongoing effort and commitment to the family to push forward on this one.”

Anyone with information is asked to call police at 204-986-7085 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 204-786-8477.

Every year around Christmas, Joss attends an event such as a news conference or vigil to plead for information. He has become a road safety advocate.

“I’ve spoken in the past about how everybody has to make the right choices when they leave and start their day, whether you’re a pedestrian and being distracted walking across streets, whether you’re a distracted driver or you’re just a little too fatigued,” he said. “Everything you do has a ripple effect on everybody else.

“The thoughts of the next person that’s going to lose their life to an accident that could have been prevented by making the right choice, it’s enough to make us tear up.”

Staples said the traffic division’s strategy for 2023 includes targeted enforcement of impaired and distracted driving, and speeding.

“We want to remind the public that the choices to drive impaired, drive distracted speeding — they can all have lethal consequences, and those simple choices you can make can truly be the difference between life and death,” he said.

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @chriskitching