Why this Windsor man calls police’s handling of hit-and-run 'frustrating'

With security footage and text messages all seeming to point to an individual who collided into his parked car and fled the scene, Darko Milenkovic figured he had everything police would need for them to make an arrest.

But according to the 37-year-old resident of Windsor, Ont., that never happened. In fact, he said officers informed him that efforts to track down the potential suspect would be stopped ⁠— all because the accused would not cooperate with the investigation.

“They literally told me they can confirm he was the driver but apparently that means nothing. So it's a very weird thing,” he said.

On Apr. 28, Milenkovic’s car was parked outside his home near downtown Windsor when it was struck by a separate vehicle that was backing out of an alleyway in his backyard.

At the time, Milenkovic said police did not arrive at the scene until 4 a.m. the next day when all possible witnesses had left the park.

“Their reaction was, ‘Well, there's nobody here for us to talk to. There's nothing we can do.’ They told me just to contact my insurance,” he recalled. “When the incident happened, there were probably 40 kids in the park,” he said.

By viewing security camera footage in the neighbourhood and conversing with people who frequented the park throughout the next few weeks, Milenkovic said he narrowed down his search for a suspect vehicle to a red Mazda SUV.

According to Milenkovic, security camera footage from the neighbourhood pointed to a red SUV, right, as the suspect vehicle in the hit-and-run. (Source: Darko Milenkovic)After a week without hearing from police, Milenkovic offered a $300 reward out of his own pocket, promoting it through paper flyers and social media.

“One individual did privately reach out,” said Milenkovic, adding they named a person of interest, said where they attended school and even provided screenshots of text messages seemingly showing the driver referencing the collision.

“So I gave all this information to police,” he said.

But in a phone call a few days later, Milenkovic said he was told by officers they could not do anything further because the person named in the tip would not voluntarily speak with police.

“They were able to confirm that the car [that hit mine] was not his or his parents. They don't know whose car it is. Because they can't connect the driver to the car and he's not talking to them, there's nothing they can do,” recalled Milenkovic.

According to Const. Talya Natyshak of Windsor police, who would not speak to this specific case with CTV News Windsor, people should avoid offering personal rewards for information as they “truly don’t know the intent of the person providing the information or the validity of the information being provided.”

After offering a $300 reward, Milenkovic says he received these Snapchat messages from a neighbour and forwarded them to officers. (Source: Darko Milenkovic) “Although the information may be accurate, further investigation by police and evidence would still be required to substantiate that information and ultimately lay a charge,” she said.

Natyshak added it’s unclear exactly what the threshold of evidence would have to be before officers could seek a charge, as each case carries its own unique factors.

“In the case of a hit-and-run investigation, officers would require evidence of who was driving the vehicle at the time of the incident in order to lay a charge,” she said.

But Milenkovic believes the nature of the evidence he provided was strong enough to warrant further action from police.

“It's a very frustrating experience,” he said. “Even from the initial day when the police came by and told me just to contact my insurance. Aren’t you going to do anything more? A hit-and-run is a crime.”

Milenkovic said insurance covered the $13,000 in damages for his car, but an additional $2,000 for fence repairs had to come out of his own pocket.

City crews have since installed concrete barriers and signage in the same alleyway where the collision occurred to prevent cars from parking there in the future.