City employee accused in hit and run that left woman lying on Osborne Street in Winnipeg
Margaret Justine Cobiness Jr. says charges laid are a 'slap on the wrist' for the driver
A City of Winnipeg employee was at the wheel of a van that struck a woman on Osborne Street in March, then left her lying there, police allege.
A 25-year-old woman was crossing Osborne at Mulvey Avenue E. around 12:30 a.m. on March 15, police said in a news release at the time. She was in front of a van when she was hit and knocked to the ground, causing extensive injuries.
The victim's family later identified her as Margaret Justine Cobiness Jr. after she was rushed to hospital, where she was initially listed in critical condition.
On Monday, police said investigators identified the vehicle involved as a Ford Transit panel van registered to the City of Winnipeg and the male driver as a city employee.
The driver turned himself in at the downtown police headquarters on April 2. He faces Manitoba Highway Traffic Act charges of driving carelessly, failing to yield to a pedestrian and failing to provide his information to the injured person.
Over the weekend, Winnipeg police contacted Cobiness Jr. and informed her about the arrest, but she said she was disappointed to hear about the charges that were laid, arguing they were a mild reprimand.
"It was just a slap on the wrist for that guy," she told CBC News on Monday. "It's not fair … like this guy almost killed me with his vehicle."
The mother of two, who is originally from Buffalo Point First Nation, spoke with CBC News a couple of days after the crash, while recovering from surgery, and said she made eye contact with the driver and assumed it was safe to cross.
As she crossed in front of the driver and reached the passenger side, Cobiness Jr. said the driver hit the gas and "ran right over me."
"He tried saying he thought I was a curb, but I [saw] him look at me while I crossed," she said on Monday. "It just doesn't make sense to me."
It has been almost two weeks since Cobiness Jr. was released from Winnipeg's Health Sciences Centre. She is recovering from a broken pelvis that has prevented her from walking again, limiting her ability to care for her children.
"It's really frustrating," she said. "I'm quite upset and so traumatized from the accident."
The crash is a memory that plays often in her mind, Cobiness Jr. said, riddling her with fear and preventing her from sleeping at night.
While she is trying to stay positive and focus on getting better for her family while the case goes through the courts, she says her story is proof of a larger issue.
"The system is broken and it continues to fail the indigenous peoples and their safety," she said. "I don't want to be silenced."
No evidence of attempted kidnapping: WPS
While the charges the driver is facing don't fall under the Criminal Code, Winnipeg police Const. Dani McKinnon said they are still "very serious" and entail a person being formally arrested and going through the court system.
Under the Highway Traffic Act, an offender can receive fines and penalties from the courts, police said, but certain offences could also result in possible jail time.
Police did not provide an age for the driver, and McKinnon declined to comment on whether the city employee was working when the incident happened.
But she confirmed the driver wasn't a police officer.
Cobiness Jr.'s family told CBC in March they believed the hit-and-run was part of an attempted kidnapping.
However, aside from the charges the driver is already facing, McKinnon said there was "no other substantiating evidence or belief that additional criminal offences took place."
"Why they drove off … that'll all be determined throughout the court process," she said.
CBC News asked the City of Winnipeg for comment but was told none would be coming because "it is a police and human resources matter."
A spokesperson would not say if the man remains employed with the city.
With files from Gavin Axelrod and Santiago Arias Orozco