Man charged in hit and run that seriously injured newcomer to Edmonton

Two months after a newcomer to Edmonton from Ukraine was seriously injured in a hit-and-run collision on 82nd Avenue, police say a man has been charged in the case.

In a news release issued Monday morning, police said Neil McKay, 52, of Edmonton, has been criminally charged with failing to stop after an accident resulting in bodily harm. He also faces charges under the Alberta Traffic Safety Act: failing to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk, careless driving, driving a motor vehicle on a highway without a valid driver’s licence and operating an unregistered motor vehicle on a highway.

The charges are the result of an investigation that began on March 18. According to police, officers were called about an injured pedestrian at 97th Street at 8:12 a.m.

Investigators were told a woman and her daughter were walking south across 82nd Avenue in a marked crosswalk when the mother was hit by an SUV that was heading east.

“The woman reportedly moved her child out of the way before she was struck,” police said. “The SUV did not remain on scene and knocked over a stop sign before driving away.”

Paramedics arrived and took the 38-year-old mother to hospital with serious injuries. Her daughter was not physically injured.

The victim was later identified to Global News as Olha Demianchuk. A co-founder of the Free Store for Ukrainian Newcomers told Global News that Demianchuk, her husband and three children came to Alberta in December 2022 after fleeing war-torn Ukraine.

Local members of the community stepped in to offer support to Demianchuk and her family following the hit-and-run incident.

In Monday’s news release, police said McKay was charged on May 10.

–with files from Caley Gibson, Global News