Father of three struck and killed
City police continue probe after pedestrian was hit by possibly two vehicles on George Street
The man who was struck and killed by a vehicle on George Street on Thursday night was 40-year-old Corey Johnston, says his half-brother Jason Johnston — and as far as Jason knows, Corey was struck twice, by two separate vehicles, before he died.
The first vehicle, Jason says, was driven by Corey’s ex-partner, the mother of his three children, who had the kids in the van with her at the time.
Jason says she knocked Corey to the ground with her van and drove away.
But Jason thinks his brother was only knocked to the street in front of the Holiday Inn — that the next vehicle to come down the street ran over Corey and caused fatal injuries.
That second vehicle, Jason says, fled the scene as well — and Jason said police were still looking for it on Friday.
Jason said he’s concerned for his nephews and niece, since he says he knows “for a fact” they saw their father get hit. He also said he hasn’t been able to reach
the ex by phone since the incident.
Jason Johnston, 45, lives in Peterborough. He said he and his two brothers, Corey and Leo, all grew up in the city, and that Corey was a graduate of Crestwood Secondary School who went on to become a carpenter.
Jason said in an interview on Friday he pieced together the story of Corey’s last evening from two people: a woman who’s friends with both Corey and his ex (the friend was in phone contact with the ex, as the incident unfolded Thursday) and from Corey’s father Reg Johnston (who spoke with police late Friday).
City police issued a press release Friday morning to report that a 40-year-old man was dead after he was struck by a vehicle on George Street North.
The man had been struck around 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, was taken first to Peterborough Regional Health Centre and later to hospital in Toronto where he died, police said.
Police did not name the man in the release, but thanked the “good Samaritans” who stopped their vehicles to help.
The city police investigation is ongoing.
Jason Johnston says his brother Corey and his former partner had three kids together: a son, 11, a daughter, 8, and another son, 3.
The couple was living in Lindsay until about two months ago when they had “problems” with their landlord and left their rental home, he said.
The couple split and moved to Peterborough to separate temporary homes, Jason said: Corey and the two older children were staying with the aforementioned friend, while his former partner and the toddler son had moved into a motel on Lansdowne Street.
Meanwhile, Corey was building a house in Bancroft with his father Reg.
Jason said the plan was for Corey to take the three children and live there with Reg, when the house was complete: “He (Corey) had plans of leaving.”
On Thursday night, the ex wanted to take the kids and get them takeout food, Jason said — and Corey went along because, in Jason’s words, he didn’t want to leave the kids alone with their mother.
So they went — the kids and their parents — to the Whistle Stop Café downtown, where Corey got out of the van to pick up their takeout food.
But by the time Corey got out of the restaurant with the food, Jason said, the van was gone.
Moments later, Corey got a text from his ex, Jason said, telling him that she’d driven up George Street to the Tim Hortons across from the Holiday Inn.
So Corey headed up there on foot, and Jason says sometime after that Corey’s ex called the friend.
“She phoned in a panic, saying that she didn’t mean to hit him (Corey) — she didn’t hit him that hard,” Jason said.
From what police told the family on Friday, Jason says, Corey was knocked to the ground by the impact and then was run over by the next vehicle to come down the street; that vehicle fled, Jason said, and police were looking for it Friday.
The van was found on Thursday night on Water Street, Jason said, though he doesn’t know whether Corey’s former partner and the kids were inside at the time.
On Friday, the kids were all with their mother at the motel, he said, and that they’d gotten a visit from staff of victim services.
Jason said an autopsy will be done on his brother’s remains.
Investigators want anyone with information about the collision to call city police at 705876-1122 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-2228477 or online at stopcrimehere.ca