Man charged after police say he deliberately drove into woman on Montreal's South Shore

A 46-year-old man is facing several charges after police say he deliberately hit a woman with his vehicle in Brossard, a South Shore suburb of Montreal. 

The accused, a Brossard man, appeared in court on Wednesday and was charged with four offences, including dangerous driving, assault with a weapon — in this case a vehicle — leaving the scene of an accident and mischief. 

The incident happened at around noon Tuesday on Allard Street, a residential street in the city. 

Longueuil police said the man did not know the victim, a 44-year-old woman. On Thursday, police confirmed the woman was unhoused. 

She was taken to hospital with serious injuries to her legs, but police said they do not fear for her life. 

The crash happened next to what appears to be a makeshift shelter with one tent set up beside a hedge of cedars. 

On Wednesday, the encampment was still there, with some personal belongings scattered nearby. 

Area residents told CBC News the makeshift camp is new and wasn't there on Sunday. 

French-language media outlet TVA spoke to the woman in hospital who said she'd been living on the streets for about one year. 

Pierre Rousseau, the executive director of La Halte du Coin, an emergency shelter in Longueuil, said unhoused people and encampments become more visible in the summer months and stressed the need for cohabitation. 

"We must learn to live together," he said. "There's no choice because they will be there, they're existing, they won't disappear." 

Rousseau added cohabitation is a two-way street with efforts needed to be made by all. 

In an email to CBC, Brossard Mayor Doreen Assaad said the community was "profoundly shaken to learn of the assault," and said her thoughts were with the victim.

"We express our full support and solidarity," she wrote.

Assaad also warned against jumping to conclusions and said no further statements would be issued pending the results of an investigation.