The Tribune

By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

Police are investigating a suspected hit-and-run after a wheelchair-bound man was found dead on the side of the road early Friday morning.

Chief Superintendent Chrislyn Skippings told reporters it was further suspected that the victim's body may have been dragged by the vehicle.

According to reports, a passerby was walking on Strachan Boulevard when he saw the deceased, who frequents the area, sometime around 6am.

Mrs Skippings said: “They responded and an examination of the victim, they confirmed no signs of life. Additionally, they observed the victim to have injuries to his body that is consistent with that of a traffic incident, possibly a hit and run.” 

Chief Superintendent Skippings added that the incident likely occurred earlier, as rigor mortis had already set in, indicating the body had been there for some time.

She also had a message for the driver: “The driver may have been in this area. You may have not known what you hit. You may have thought that you may have hit an animal or a stump in the road. You may feel that you hit something. I'm going to ask you, as you watch this feed to go to the traffic police station.”

She noted it was too early to determine if poor visibility contributed to the incident but did not want to rule it out.

“It could be that it may have been intentional," she continued. 

"It could be that they may have veered off from something. It could be that lighting, it could be any number  of circumstances that have contributed to it. But because it's early in the investigation, Let us allow the investigators from the traffic division, coupled with us viewing the CCTV footage that is in the area, let us look at those first before we definitively say what may have transpired here in the past few hours.” 

Chief Superintendent Skippings reminded the public that the penalty for a hit-and-run conviction is $10,000.