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‘She ran over my leg and foot’: Surrey mayor’s 911 call revealed in public mischief trial

Doug McCallum is accused of misleading police
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Doug McCallum going through security at Surrey provincial court in Surrey on Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2022. (Photo: Anna Burns)

Doug McCallum’s edited 911 call, roughly nine minutes long, to report an alleged hit-and-run in which he claimed a woman ran over his foot was played out in Surrey provincial court Tuesday (Nov. 1).

He told the dispatcher a driver “just about hit me, actually” and “she ran over my leg and foot.”

He described the driver as “fairly stocky” in her 60s.

The driver, Deborah Johnstone,

“She’s harassed me before,” McCallum told the dispatcher. “She called me a piece of shit.”

Asked if he needed an ambulance, McCallum said he could drive with his right foot to hospital and that his left foot was “very numb.”

The call was edited by the court to omit the former mayor’s personal information.

McCallum later told the Surrey RCMP during a 58-minute interview at the station that “she just floored it. I thought she was going to peel rubber.”

“They came out of nowhere and just pinned me,” he told the RCMP. “Literally just about pinned me.”

“She was screaming terrible stuff.”

He said the driver, who was “wearing a white ‘Keep the RCMP in Surrey’ shirt,” turned at him, ran over his foot “and took off” while “shouting at the top of her lungs.”

McCallum told the police officer he went to Peace Arch Hospital and underwent seven X-rays which, he said, revealed soft tissue damage but no broken bones.

“She literally turned into me,” he said, “and ran over my foot.”

“It looked like she just purposely wanted to clip me,” he said.

“She’s at every council meeting, she harasses us all the time.”

The former Surrey mayor is charged with one count of public mischief, stemming from an encounter on Sept. 4, 2021 between himself and a group of volunteers that was gathering petition signatures outside the South Point Save-On-Foods store in South Surrey for a referendum on the policing transition. McCallum is accused of misleading police with his complaint.

McCallum said he walked over to Keep the RCMP organizer Ivan Scott to complain.

“He even noticed I was limping,” McCallum claimed.

McCallum said doctors told him “that appears to be assault.”

“She ran over my toe,” he said, claiming the driver was in a “rage.

“I think what happened is she really wanted to pin me.”

The trial, set for seven days, continues.



tom.zytaruk@surreynowleader.com

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About the Author: Tom Zytaruk

I write unvarnished opinion columns and unbiased news reports for the Surrey Now-Leader.
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