Unhappy to have been the victim of a hit-and-run crash, an Elmira man decided to take matters into his own hands.
Explaining his situation on Facebook, Brent Reed offered a $1,000 reward for any information leading to the driver of the vehicle that hit his while he was driving along Highway 7/8 in Kitchener.
“I just want to do everything I can to catch this person. I promised my son and my girlfriend that it would,” Reed said in an interview.
Reed’s son and girlfriend were with him on the morning of April 25, when the crash occurred.
He was driving in the westbound lanes of the highway, approaching the Courtland Avenue exit, when his car was sideswiped.
He says the impact of the crash nearly sent his vehicle head-on into the centre median – but he was able to move the wheel just enough that it was the side of his vehicle that slid along the wall instead.
The crash left his vehicle down a tire, and with a bent frame. Reed says it’s beyond repair.
More than a week later – and well after Reed’s offer of a reward had garnered plenty of attention – police released their own plea for information on social media.
“We’re still following up with witnesses and some video that we have, but we need assistance from anybody else who might be able to assist us in this investigation,” OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt said in a video.
Police believe the vehicle that hit Reed’s was a silver, four-door Mercedes sedan, which would have received damage to its driver’s side.
Thus far in 2016, there have been 29 hit-and-run collisions reported on Waterloo Region’s highways.
