A resident of the Cabbagetown neighbourhood said he heard a woman screaming on Monday night when she was struck by her own vehicle after it was stolen by a suspect.
The woman in her late 60s was in the area of Seaton Street and Hagan Lane, near Gerrard and Sherbourne streets, at around 11 p.m. when she was hit, according to investigators.
As the carjacker was fleeing the scene, police say it appears he struck her with the vehicle.
A neighbour who lives across the street from where the incident occurred said he heard the woman yelling.
“(She was) basically screaming that that’s her car and there was some sort of screaming back and forth, then (I) heard a car drive off. Then (I) heard the woman screaming for help,” Jordan Allison told CTV News Toronto.
The car, described as a black 2001 Volvo, was located in the area of George and Gerrard streets a short time later.
“Definitely it was a quick -- somebody was driving off pretty quickly. You heard the gas -- slam on the gas and down the road. I tried to get a visual of the car, but literally it was half way down the street. I couldn't get a visual. I just saw the woman laying on ground,” Allison said.
The community, he said, often hears calls of distress.
“Again, you’re so used hearing this sort of thing. It’s like crying wolf. You hear it every day, that you just think the person is drunk,” Allison said. “You don’t actually think it’s a situation because you’re so used to it in this neighbourhood.”
The woman’s injuries are not life-threatening but police say she may have suffered a broken femur.
The suspect has been described by investigators as a white male with a thin build and a beard.
He appears to be in his 40s or 50s, police added. Officers were speaking to local residents on Tuesday, going door-to-door and searching for surveillance camera footage and witnesses.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call 416-808-5100.
