Second Winnipeg teen charged in June death of cyclist

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A second man has been arrested in the death of a cyclist hit by a vehicle at a contentious city intersection.

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Rob Jenner, 61, was killed in a hit-and-run collision at about 7 a.m. on June 6. Winnipeg police said a white BMW travelling at a high rate of speed hit Jenner as they were both headed eastbound on Wellington Crescent near Cockburn Street North.

The vehicle was recovered and a 19-year-old was charged with dangerous driving causing death and failing to stop at the scene of an accident causing death.

Police said Monday an 18-year-old man was also hit with the latter charge and released on an undertaking as mandated by the Criminal Code.

Bike Winnipeg has been advocating for bike lanes and cyclist protection in the area, which connects part of the city with its bike infrastructure.

A sit-in protest was held the following day, along with a memorial late last month in which a ghost bike was placed at the intersection.

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“This is a grassroots movement to bring attention to the city of how many of us there are and how we would like our voice to be heard because we don’t feel like we get priority in our safety,” advocate Patty Wiens said at the protest. “We don’t have enough bike infrastructure. Our bike network is not connected and so we feel like second-class citizens. Even though there is a lot of work being done, it’s not being done fast enough. We’re always told there isn’t enough money and there’s a finite amount of money but we keep widening the roads and fixing potholes and creating more roads, more problems that are going to have to be fixed later.

“We just keep creating more problems that will have to get fixed later instead of giving us safety.”

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Jenner was on his way to work at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, where he’d been employed since 2014. CMHR released a statement from the family.

“Rob was taken from us, from all of us who loved him, too soon. Rob was killed cycling to work, something he loved to do. He knew cycling in this city could be dangerous but he loved it – he always left early, he was very safety conscious. He always cycled in his bright yellow safety gear, wore a helmet that had flashing lights and followed all the proper safety measures while on the road. The City needs to do more for safer roads for cyclists and we would ask every driver in Winnipeg reading this to think of Rob and take extra care and patience while passing cyclists. We don’t want another family to experience this grief.”

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