A 62-year-old accounting instructor at Centennial College suffered life-threatening head injuries yesterday when he was struck by a car at the picket line in front of the school's Progress Avenue campus in Scarborough.
Police said John Stammers "came into contact with the right side and hood of the car." He fell from the hood onto the pavement, striking the back of his head, they said.
Mr. Stammers, who was knocked unconscious when he hit the pavement, was taken by paramedics to Sunnybrook and Women's College Health Sciences Centre. He was listed in critical condition last night.
The incident shocked and angered other pickets, members of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, who were beginning the third week of a strike that has affected tens of thousands of college students. There was no progress reported in negotiations yesterday.
Witnesses -- pickets who were starting the morning shift just before 8 o'clock at the Progress Avenue entrance -- told police that a man in his twenties, driving a Toyota Corolla, approached the picket line and was confronted by four or five pickets, including Mr. Stammers, who tried to step in front of the vehicle to inform the driver of the issues of the strike.
They said the man tried to drive away but was confronted again by Mr. Stammers, who placed his hand on the car door. Witness said the driver got out and yelled obscenities at Mr. Stammers.
"The guy just jumped out of his car and started swearing up a storm right in John's face," said Geoff Dewer, a picket who said he witnessed the confrontation.
Other witnesses say Mr. Stammers stood his ground and stayed calm. They said other pickets approached the two men and tried to defuse the situation. They told the driver to calm down, but he got back behind the wheel and tried to drive onto the campus.
"John was standing sort of in front of the man's car bumper so when he took off he clipped John's leg," said Jiantee Jagessar, a part-time teacher at Centennial. "The next thing we knew, John was up on the hood of the car and the guy was still accelerating."
"The whole thing was really surreal," said Janice Hill, a part-time instructor who held Mr. Stammers's hand until paramedics arrived.
Shortly after the incident, campus security found the driver sitting in his car in a parking lot. They turned him over to police.
OPSEU spokesman Randy Robinson said that pickets "are well within their rights to stop vehicles" from entering and leaving school property so they can inform the public about what is happening. But drivers are free to go, he said, as long as they do so in a safe manner.
Police say the 22-year-old accused driver is not a student at Centennial.
"We believe the suspect was in the process of dropping off his daughter at the daycare centre when the incident occurred," Sergeant Lewis Bryant of traffic services said.
Police are investigating the incident and considering laying charges against the driver, Sgt. Bryant said.