Truck driver who struck pedestrian in hit-and-run identified

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This article was published 19/08/2021 (1676 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WINNIPEG police have identified the driver of a truck that struck an 88-year-old woman downtown nearly two weeks ago.

Joan Shelton died in hospital three days later.

“I think we’re all relieved… but at the same time, while it does give us some sense of closure, it certainly doesn’t replace the very deep sense of loss we all feel,” said Tracey Shelton, the victim’s niece.

On the morning of Aug. 6, Joan Shelton was attempting to cross Smith Street at Broadway when a truck travelling northbound on Smith jumped the curb while turning onto Broadway.

Shelton, who had eyesight trouble, had been on her way to the Millennium Library for a lesson to use a new iPad she had received from the CNIB.

Police have not yet named the driver or said whether charges will be laid.

“It doesn’t erase what happened. I think the big thing for us was knowing there was someone out there who did this and who knows if they’d be able to identify them. That certainly created a lot of angst and ill feeling with everybody,” Shelton said.

She said her aunt was a creative, independent woman.

“People think 88 and you assume somebody’s an elderly person, (but) Joan was just full of life and active, always out and about,” Shelton said.