Abbotsford police are investigating a suspected hit-and-run that killed a cyclist Thursday evening.
A passerby phoned police after discovering an unresponsive man on Mt. Lehman Road around 11:20 p.m.
Upon arrival, emergency crews discovered the man was dead.
Police believe a driver fled the scene after hitting the cyclist from behind some time after 10:30 p.m.
Investigators left the scene before dawn on Friday, only to return to the scene later in the morning. Police say a lot of debris was left at the scene and that the driver would have known he hit someone.
Abbotsford police Const. Ian MacDonald told CTV News that police haven’t determined the make and model of the vehicle they’re looking for, but they know what the damage to it would look like.
"I would suggest that we would be looking for damage to the front end of the vehicle,” MacDonald said. “Possibly to the grill area, to the hood, maybe the bumper area, and if they were focused on one side or the other it would likely be to the passenger side.”
MacDonald said police are still working to identify the cyclist and notify his next of kin. For now, police believe the victim was an Abbotsford resident between 40 and 60 years of age.
Police are still talking to witnesses in the case, MacDonald said, and they’re looking for anyone with additional information on the accident to come forward, including the driver of the vehicle.
“We are eventually going to track down the driver or the registered owner of this vehicle,” MacDonald said. “They need to do the right thing and step forward right now.”
Anyone with information is asked to call the Abbotsford Police Department at 604-859-5225 or to call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477.
