A woman is dead after being struck by two vehicles in midtown Toronto Wednesday morning.
The woman was crossing the street on Eglinton Avenue E. near Dunfield Avenue after buying groceries, Scott Bradbury, deputy inspector with Toronto Police Service (TPS), said at a news conference Wednesday morning.
Toronto police initially said the woman was around 80 years old. In a news release Wednesday afternoon, police said a 70-year-old woman was struck.
She was hit twice by different vehicles on Eglinton Avenue E. just before 7:20 a.m., Bradbury said. He added the vehicles came from opposite directions with one heading east and the other west.
“Neither of these vehicles stayed on scene,” Bradbury told reporters.
The woman died despite life-saving efforts by paramedics.
A 48-year-old man from Toronto turned himself in Wednesday morning following the incident, according to Wednesday’s news release.
He has been charged with dangerous operation of a conveyance causing death and leaving an accident scene causing death, according to Wednesday’s release.
The man arrested was driving the white Hyundai Venue at the time of the incident, police told CBC Toronto in a statement.
Toronto police are still searching for a second, unidentified suspect who was driving the second vehicle.
Eglinton Avenue E. was closed to traffic and pedestrians between Yonge Street and Lillian Street, but has since reopened, according to TPS.
Police are asking anyone with information or footage of the incident to contact them.
“To have an 80-year-old struck down by two drivers who selfishly left the scene … I just find it horrifying,” said Coun. Josh Matlow (Toronto-St. Paul’s).
According to Matlow, residents have been calling for improved road security in the area, but more information was necessary prior to making any changes.
“Whether or not a crosswalk would have prevented what happened this morning, the police will tell us that. But I will support whatever is the evidence-based way to proceed,” Matlow said.
Romahlio Williams, who has lived in the area for about three years, said the hit and run was “heartbreaking to hear [about].”
He said speeding isn’t an issue in the neighbourhood and that it’s common for people to cross the street in front of the grocery store when the road is clear, rather than walking to a crosswalk.
“I’m surprised,” he told CBC Toronto while in the area on Wednesday. “I don’t feel like that sort of stuff happens up here.”
Diego Maytorena, another community member, said he was shocked to hear neither driver stopped at the scene.
“You can’t just flee the scene, you have to at least call 911,” he said.
Bradbury called the New Year’s Eve collision a “tragic end to 2025.”
“If you’re responsible for this collision, please do the right thing. Speak to a legal professional, a lawyer, and contact police to turn yourself in,” Bradbury said.
