‘Didn’t realize how close I was’ to getting hit, pedestrian says

A West Broadway pedestrian says it was like a scene straight out of the movies as he narrowly avoided being plowed into during a midday police pursuit.

Adam Orbanski was crossing Langside Street along Broadway Friday and had just made it to the curb when a vehicle slammed into another metres away from him.

“It’s pretty crazy,” Orbanski said Monday after viewing security footage of the incident captured by a nearby business. “I didn’t realize how close I was, I guess, until my friend sent me the security footage. I’m lucky to be alive.”

Orbanski said he was walking home from work when he began to hear sirens. As he crossed Langside, he could see one vehicle approaching him quickly.

“I was like, ‘Oh my God, the cops are chasing him,’” he said. “If I didn’t move as fast as I did, I probably would have gotten smoked.”

The crash sent one person to hospital with serious injuries. Because it happened during a police pursuit, the Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba has taken over the investigation.

The incident began at about 1:45 p.m. on Friday when a 911 caller reported seeing a man force a woman into a green Jeep-style vehicle near River Avenue and Donald Street, police said in a news release Monday.

Officers later spotted a green 2023 Ford Bronco in a parking lot on the 400 block of River. Police said the driver fled as officers attempted to stop it, striking a parked vehicle, leading to a pursuit.

Police said the Bronco collided with a police cruiser near Wellington Crescent before running a stop sign at Broadway and Langside just before 2 p.m., crashing into a westbound Mitsubishi Outlander.

The impact sent the Outlander into a nearby diner. The Bronco struck several parked vehicles before becoming disabled.

Orbanski said police quickly had the two occupants — a man and a woman — out of the Bronco and in custody.

“They were saying things like, ‘Look at how the cops are treating me,’” he said. “And I was like, ‘You almost ran me over, a—hole.’”

Orbanski said he stuck around to give a statement to police, and watched as both occupants of the Outlander were taken to hospital.

He said one of the people were fitted with a neck brace before being transported.

On Monday, the IIU said a female passenger of the Outlander suffered a fractured rib and a concussion as a result of the collision.

Police arrested the Bronco’s driver, Kesif Fontaine, 18. Occupants of both vehicles were assessed by paramedics and taken to hospital.

Fontaine has never been convicted of a crime in Manitoba as an adult, but court records show he’s accused of several court-order breaches this year.

In late March and early May, Fontaine was accused of three counts of failing to comply with an undertaking. Later in May, Fontaine was granted a release order, or bail, which he’s accused of violating eight times on May 29 and between June 7 and 8.

Court records show the man was also accused of violating his release order seven times on Wednesday — specifically by not abstaining from drugs or alcohol, contacting a person he’s not supposed to, by twice violating his curfew, by attending a place he’s been ordered not to and by possessing at least two weapons.

After Friday’s incident, Fontaine is again charged with release order breaches, as well as dangerous driving, dangerous driving causing bodily harm and failing or refusing a demand for a breath sample.

Orbanski said both occupants of the Bronco appeared to be “on something.”

Shaelyn Desmarais McLeod, whose car sustained minor damage, told the Free Press Friday she witnessed the end of the pursuit.

“I was actually in my apartment room and I heard a really loud tire screech and then I looked out the window, saw lots of smoke, and I heard a man, presumably a police officer, yell: ‘get on the f—-ing ground,’” she said.

WanaBees Diner, the building one of the vehicles smashed into, said on its Facebook page the owners were aware of damage to the eatery and were taking steps to secure the door.

In an email Monday, the owners of the diner said they’re still waiting on the adjuster to survey the damage.

“I will say I have a lot of damage, including structural damage,” they said.

The restaurant, which has been in the community since 1992, had been closed as the owners were away for a family wedding. They planned to reopen Friday but will now wait until they find out what comes next.

— with files from Erik Pindera

scott.billeck@freepress.mb.ca