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Citizen Chases Down Driver After Six-Yr.-Old Hit Getting Off Streetcar

01/07/2008  | CityNews.ca Staff

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Citizen Chases Down Driver After Six-Yr.-Old Hit Getting Off Streetcar

A citizen is being hailed a hero after chasing down a man wanted for hitting a six-year-old girl on the weekend. The child was getting off a westbound TTC streetcar near Dundas and Jarvis Sts. around the noon hour Sunday when a van roared by the transit vehicle at a fairly high rate of speed.

The TTC driver leaned on the gong in an attempt to warn both the youngster and the driver, but it was too late. The mirror on the car struck the girl and she bounced off the side and onto the street. The man behind the wheel stopped for a moment, looked at what he'd done, and then got out of the car and fled the scene on foot.

But he didn't get far. A passerby who saw what happened decided he wasn't going to let him get away and started chasing the cowardly motorist down the street. He eventually caught up to him, tackled him, brought him back to the accident scene and held him until police arrived.

Cops later revealed the car had been stolen. Thirty-eight-year-old Andrew Thurston is facing a number of charges, including fail to remain, possession of stolen property and driving without a licence. He was in College Park Court on Monday morning.

The child was treated in hospital for minor injuries and released.

File photo