EDMONTON – Edmonton Police are commending the actions of a Good Samaritan driver after he purposely drove in front of another vehicle headed towards four young pedestrians.
“He did a very valiant thing,” said Scott Pattison with the Edmonton Police Service. “Obviously, police don’t recommend people do those sorts of things that put their own lives in jeopardy but certainly, we could have been talking about a very different story today.”
Police were called to a two vehicle collision near 83 Street and 84 Avenue at around 4:30pm on Friday, August 31st. After investigating, officers discovered that a Pontiac G5 was likely speeding north on 83 Street from 82 Avenue. The driver was allegedly speaking on his cell phone and passed several vehicles that were stopped to let four children use the crosswalk at 84 Avenue, near Bonnie Doon Shopping Mall.
At the same time, Darrell Krushelnicki was leaving the Bonnie Doon Mall parking lot.
“He was using his cell phone and you could tell, I mean, you could tell he did not know where he was at,” says Krushelnicki.
“Those kids were going to be in danger for sure because he didn’t see the lights nor the kids whatsoever,” he explains, “so I just kind of got in front of him.”
Police say Krushelnicki saw that the Pontiac was about to hit the pedestrians, and quickly drove his Hummer into the path of the oncoming vehicle.
“You could kind of see what might happen, and that was the last thing anybody wants to see,” he recalls.
Officers say Krushelnicki, from Taber, likely saved the children from being seriously injured or killed.
“Police estimate he was speeding at a rate of upwards of 80 kilometres in a 30 kilometre zone,” says Pattison.
“We could have been talking about a very different story today,” he adds, “that potentially could have been the death of four young children between the ages of three and 16.”
Witnesses interviewed by police also believe Krushelnicki’s actions saved the lives of all four children.
“We’re going to be recommending him for a citizen’s citation award,” says Pattison. When asked if that means officially honouring Krushelinicki as a hero, Pattison responded, “that’s correct.”
Krushelinicki says being referred to as a hero isn’t something he’s used to. He’s just glad he was there at the time so he could do something to prevent tragedy.
“The rest of the kids came up to me and thanked me for what I had done… I was a little emotional at the time. I kind of gave them all a hug, and said everybody’s lucky that nothing happened, and I just wished them well.”
John Troy Heitzman, 23, has been charged with Dangerous Driving.
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