Calgary Police arrest 58 year old man in connection to Monday’s fatal hit and run

Calgary Police have made an arrest in connection to the death of 33-year-old Farida Abdurahman who died in Monday night’s fatal hit and run.

58-year-old Robert Mark Varley has been charged with hit and run causing death.

Traffic Sergeant Colin Foster says it was the debris trail that led them to the suspect and the car, a silver Buick Regal, involved.

“It’s a sad collision but at the same token it was also totally preventable,” said Foster. “The majority of these pedestrian collisions, I’ve said it before, had the driver remained at the scene he may not have faced any charges. If that’s the case in this particular one, I’m not really prepared to say but certainly there’s no doubt in my mind that he would have known that he had struck a pedestrian and my expectation from anybody who’s involved in a pedestrian collision is that they should remain at the scene and certainly render first aid and that’s not the case in this one.”

Abdurahman, a housekeeper at the Peter Lougheed Centre, was only a block away from home when she was struck in a marked crosswalk at Centre Street North and 43rd Avenue.

Foster has met with the Abdurahman family a few times now.

“There’s more and more relatives who are turning up with each time, from overseas and in the community so the actual network they have is quite extensive which is very fortunate in these sad circumstances,” he said.

According to police, the suspect was initially evasive before admitting his involvement to investigators.

As a result of this investigation they plan on talking to the city to see what can be done to make the intersection in question safer.

A GoFundMe page set up for the family has already raised more than $5,000 as of noon Wednesday.

To view the full news conference with Sgt. Colin Foster, click here.

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