I could have been killed, Portugal Cove man says
Woman suspected of driving drunk leaves swath of damage in yard
Michael Hancock is sure glad he ate too much at his mother’s place Monday evening.
Had he not, there’s a chance he might not be alive.
After eating supper at his mom’s house in St. John’s, the 42year-old returned to his Portugal Cove home at 8 p.m. to discover police cars and fire trucks at his house.
Not long before that, a 63year-old woman — who police say was drunk — had lost control of the Ford pickup truck she was driving, veered of the road and over an embankment, and landed overturned in the middle of Hancock’s garden.
The spot where the vehicle landed was where Hancock and his dog normally sit every evening.
“Had I not had such a large meal at my mother’s house and sat around on the couch a little longer, you may have been writ- ing a story about her killing someone,” Hancock told The Telegram Tuesday.
By the time Hancock got there, the woman had been pried from her vehicle and taken to hospital. The investigation and cleanup were underway.
Police cars were blocking entry to Mitchell’s Road, off Portugal Cove Road, where Hancock accesses his driveway.
“My first thought when I saw police car and fire trucks was that something was on fire,” he said. “But I didn’t see any water being pumped. Then I saw they were on my property and wondered what had happened. Then I saw the overturned truck and saw the situation was being handled.”
Hancock said he didn’t panic and was relieved no one was seriously hurt.
However, when he walked out to his garden Tuesday morning to assess the damage in the daylight, he couldn’t help but feel angry.
Hancock purchased the property two years ago and put a great deal of work into the garden.
Besides planting several trees, bushes and flowers, and a vegetable garden, he spent money creating a lush lawn. Much of that was destroyed. Several maple trees had been snapped off, others were uprooted, a flowering bush was ruined and glass from the vehicle was scattered across the garden.
However, most of the damage was caused when the pickup had to be dragged 60 feet across his garden to be towed, tearing up a large sec- tion of lawn.
“Here it is, the end of summer, and I was really satisfied with the work I had done, getting it to a point where you could run a lawn mower over it without striking rock and tearing up the blade,” he said.
“It’s really unfortunate. … But what do you do? It was another (suspected) case of drinking and driving. … I know it definitely could’ve been a lot worse.”
Hancock is waiting for the police to finish their investigation to sort things out with the woman’s insurance company. He hopes to recoup money for the damage caused.
“Until then, I can’t even let the dog go out in the garden,” he said. “So, it’s all a waiting game now. I only hope she has insurance.”
“Like I said, the main thing is nobody was seriously hurt.”