The family of a woman seriously injured in a hit-and-run over the weekend says they’re speaking out to prevent other families from going through the same trauma.
Margaret (Macey) Cobiness Jr., 25, was crossing the street near Confusion Corner in Osborne Village early Saturday morning when she was struck by a white construction van.
She later told her family that the van had been following her, and that the men inside tried to abduct her.
“She says these guys were following her, and she came out on the road, the car came up and knocked her down … and they backed up again and they drove over top of her again,” her father Ernie Cobiness said.
“She made eye contact with them and that’s how she knew right away.”
He said incidents like this are well-known in the Indigenous community, and that he’s gone public with his daughter’s story in an effort to get some measure of justice.
Macey, he said, was taken to hospital with a wide range of injuries, including a broken pelvis, broken ribs and a broken shoulder.
“She’s under a lot of pain, she’s constantly crying … she wanted to make sure her voice was heard, her story was heard, because she was very concerned about other women who are going murdered or missing, and she didn’t want to end up like that,” he said.
“The worst thing we can do is be silent about stuff like this, because our silence just OKs people doing what they’re doing to our women.”
“It’s hard to see my little girl laying there like that in pain crying, but she wanted to send a message out saying, ‘enough is enough.’ She’s not going to be silent no more.”
Police said Monday that the incident took place around 12:30 a.m., at Mulvey Avenue East and Osborne Street, and that the investigation continues.
The Cobiness family said it’s hard to have faith in the police or the justice system when incidents like this — as well as others with more tragic outcomes — are commonplace.
The family of a woman seriously injured in a weekend hit-and-run in Osborne Village is calling for justice.
Global News
“It’s tragic, but it’s never going to stop until we support each other and bring notice of what’s happening and let people know this is not going to stand without some sort of justice for our women,” her father said.
Kari Cobiness, the victim’s sister, said she’s happy Macey is alive, but is frustrated by the crisis her community faces.
“There’s so many missing and murdered Indigenous women, and it just hit really close to home, because I never thought my little sister or anybody in my family would get hurt like that,” she said.
“Maybe she was going to be the next Indigenous girl in the landfill … It’s just really hard right now. I just want my sister to be OK, she’s my baby sister.”
Police said they continue to search for witnesses and surveillance footage that may have captured the incident or the van in question, which they said took off before emergency personnel could arrive at the scene.
Anyone with information or video footage (such as from a dash cam or security camera footage) is asked to contact traffic division investigators at 204-986-7085, Crime Stoppers at 204-786-TIPS (8477), or online at winnipegcrimestoppers.org.
