Clinton News Record, 2016-07-20, Page 12CASE LOT SALE
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12 News Record • Wednesday, July 20, 2016
Varna native
declared innocent
Jane Sims
Postmedia Network
NHLer Ryan O'Reilly has
won more than a few battles
in tough corners, but none
have come close to what he
skated away from Monday.
Last summer, his vintage
1951 green Chevrolet pickup
truck was implicated in a
crash at Lucan's only Tim
Hortons across the street
from the OPP detachment.
What's not in dispute is
that the truck hit the coffee
shop, two men were seen
driving away and that
O'Reilly and another man
were arrested minutes later.
But the version given by
earnest Tim Hortons
employee Mary Smith, the
crucial identification witness
for the Crown, was, as
O'Reilly's defence lawyer
David Humphrey said, "fun-
damentally flawed."
So flawed, the Crown
decided, that there was no
reasonable prospect for con-
viction. Instead of going
through a planned two-day
trial with six witnesses,
O'Reilly, a centre for the Buf-
falo Sabres, was acquitted of
all charges by Ontario Court
Justice Thomas McKay after
only an hour.
"I'm just really glad to
put this behind me," said
the soft-spoken, strapping
25 -year-old Varna native
outside of the London
courthouse. "I know it's
been an unfortunate situa-
tion, and you know it's just
nice to get back and focus
on training and prepare for
next year."
It should be a lot easier to
focus than last summer.
Charges of impaired driv-
ing for what happened at
the Timmie's on July 9,
2015, hung over O'Reilly's
first full season as a Sabre
after a blockbuster trade
with the Colorado Ava-
lanche and a team record
five-year, $52.5 -million
contract.
O'Reilly sat quietly with
his lawyer. Smith, 53, was
clearly nervous when she
began answering questions
from assistant Crown attor-
ney George Christakos.
And, it was also evident
that she wasn't much of a
hockey fan. Smith said she
sent a text to her mother
that morning that "some
dumb -ass tried to drive
through the Tim Horton's
window and tried to leave."
Two days later, her mother
told her O'Reilly was impli-
cated. "I thought, 'Who the
heck is Ryan O'Reilly?,"
Smith said of the NHL star
who won the Lady Byng
trophy for sportmanship in
2014.
She testified that the work
at 4 a.m. is "fast -paced" with
ovens full of food to start the
busy breakfast period.
Around that time on July 9,
2015, she said she heard the
sound of glass breaking and
assumed her male co-
worker had dropped
something.
They both saw that "the
truck was through the win-
dow," Smith said, crashing
through the front door and
into the vestibule.
The lights were on and
the engine was still run-
ning, she said. She
expected whoever was in
the truck would come in.
A short time later, she
saw a man by the open
driver's side door, standing
on the running board, his
arms resting on the top of
the door. She went outside
and saw him walk to
another man at the drive-
through window. They both
got in the truck.
She told her co-worker
to call 911. The truck
backed out and was pull-
ing away when she yelled
at them police had been
called.
"I'll be back," the driver
said. She noted that he
was very polite.
NHLer Ryan O'Reilly in front of the court.
The passenger had
bushier hair than the
driver, Smith said. Six
minutes after they headed
south on Saintsbury Line,
the police brought two
men back to the restau-
rant for her to identify
them.
When Humphrey stood
up to start the cross-exami-
nation, you could see he
was ready to pounce.
Smith told Humphrey a
police officer assured her
before the trial he was
"confident in my statement
that it was Mr. O'Reilly driv-
ing that vehicle when it left
Tim Hortons."
Humphrey zeroed in on
the moments surrounding
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the crash. After the initial
sound of breaking glass,
Smith said her attention
turned to the oven alarms
that were going off. She
got the food out, then
wondered why no one
from the truck had come
in.
She said she and her co-
worker went to the interior
doors and saw the truck
had penetrated the wall
and was inside the door
right up to the front tires.
When asked if she saw
anyone inside the truck,
Smith replied, "I couldn't
see anybody from where I
was standing ... I wasn't
looking for anybody.
"The truck's not going to
Postmedia files
get there on its own,"
Smith said.
Humphrey pressed, and
Smith's terse reply began
to seal the trial's fate. "Can
I be sure it was him driv-
ing? No, it was a mystery
driver," she said with more
than a hint a sarcasm.
Smith insisted the truck
had penetrated the build-
ing and left a big hole.
That's when Humphrey
showed her the police
photos of the damage:
some cracked and broken
glass and three broken
panels beside the back
wall. The bottom panel
wasn't even bent and
there was no hole.
CONTINUED > PAGE 13
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