CHESTERMERE – Pieces of a bumper that are believed to belong to a silver vehicle were found scattered around the scene of a hit and run in the Rainbow Falls area this past week.
The incident occurred sometime during the late evening hours of Jan. 17 or the early morning hours of Jan.18. The vehicle that was struck, a dark blue 2008 Jeep Wrangler X, was parked on the south side of Rainbow Falls Drive, and was hit on the rear drivers side.
“I haven’t gotten an official estimate yet but on the police report we estimated that the damage would be over $1,000,” said Amanda Blais, who owns the vehicle. “The back bumper is missing pieces by the driver side wheel, the tire got punctured and the rim is potentially bent.
“The running board also looks like it has been pushed into the side of the vehicle due to a potential sideswipe after the initial contact.”
Blais said that it was frustrating to see her vehicle hit, with no note or phone number left behind.
”You really hope for the best from people because you know that they would hope for the same respect if it were them,” she said. “To see pieces of the other car was almost comical because not only did they drive away from the scene of the accident but they left evidence everywhere.
“I’m just hoping that the truth eventually comes out, as it usually does, because who ever hit the vehicle will need a damage sticker to get their car fixed. My biggest hope is that the driver wasn’t drinking or that the vehicle wasn’t stolen.”
Blais said that she doesn’t want to make any assumptions about why her vehicle was struck, but said it could have been for any number of reasons.
“I don’t want to assume that the driver was under the influence, but sometimes that’s exactly my suspicion,” she said. “Unless it was a young kid who was just afraid of the consequences, so who really knows.
“It was definitely icy that night because of the weather we had been having, but people really need to learn to slow down around the corners anyway, since the turns are already so tight on our street.”
Blais said she will continue to park on Rainbow Falls Drive in front of her residence, because the way the condos are built, she doesn’t really have a second option.
“The garages are great but when you drive larger vehicles it’s harder to fit them both in there,” she said. “I’d like to feel like my vehicle is safe in front of my own house.”
Local RCMP said that as Rainbow Falls Drive is a well travelled road, they were not able to identify any tire tracks that could trace to a specific vehicle. The only information provided was that the vehicle is question will likely be a silver vehicle with significant damage to the front bumper.
RCMP are hoping that members of the public may have witnessed the incident, or seen a vehicle matching the description. Anyone with information can contact the Chestermere RCMP at 403-204-8777 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or through the internet at www.tipsubmit.com.
Crime stoppers will pay cash rewards up to $2,000 for information that leads to an arrest, the recovery of stolen property or seizure of illegal drugs. Crime Stoppers does not subscribe to call display and the identity of the caller will remain anonymous.
