Story and photos by Mary P. Brooke       |         April 12, 2010

On a regular Monday morning in Sooke there was a vehicle accident that changed the life of Michael Connor forever. A long-time employee of Dumont Tire, Connor was in the proverbial "wrong place at the wrong time". While standing outside Dumont Tire during the morning workshift, Connor was struck by a speeding sports car that was attempting to avoid a Sooke RCMP vehicle. The 43-year-old Connor -- "Mike" to his employer and friends -- was taken by ambulance to hospital with serious but non-life-threatening facial, leg and back injuries.

“We have a traffic reconstruction expert in from Parksville to recompose what occurred" when the speeding vehicle turned into the front work area of Dumont Tire on Otter Point Road around 11:15 a.m. that Monday, April 12, said Sooke RCMP Staff Sgt. Steve Wright, later that afternoon. For several hours the reconstruction team was examining the evidence of three damaged vehicles and blood stains on the concrete. One of their goals was to determine the speed of the oncoming vehicle based on the damage to the other vehicles.

“There was a 150 to 200 m distance from where the (speeding) driver took off to where she struck," said Wright, adding that the impaired driver was to be charged with impaired driving, impaired driving causing bodily harm, dangerous driving, dangerous driving causing bodily harm, and driving with a blood alcohol level over 80 mg.

Two cars that were on the lot incurred notable damage during the incident, and at least one other vehicle (in addition to the driver's vehicle) incurred damage while parked on the Dumont Tire lot.

On Tuesday the Dumont family was spending the day in support of Michael Connor and his family. MM

~ with notes from Karen Laharty