Marc Thorsen was on his morning delivery route when he saw a woman pushed to the ground and kicked repeatedly by her partner at the corner of Cook Street and Pandora Avenue.
It was about 7:30 a.m. on May 7. Thorsen, who was delivering food to Wellburn’s Market on Pandora, got out of his truck and asked what was going on. Using some choice words, the man told Thorsen to mind his own business and followed his partner as she crossed the street to get away.
Thorsen could see that another witness was on the phone to police, so he crossed the street to follow the couple. “The attacker ran to the girl, pushed her down again, continued to kick her a couple more times and that’s when I ran and stood between them,” Thorsen recalled.
“I told him, ‘This isn’t happening — you have to go through me to get to her now.’ ”
Thorsen’s willingness to intervene in a violent situation earned him the Victoria Police Department’s civic service award, presented Monday.
The 44-year-old Saanich man said he wasn’t willing to stand by and watch the woman, who appeared to be in her 20s, be abused.
“I don’t know if the man had any weapons on him or anything ... but at the same time, I’m thinking to myself: ‘What if that was my daughter — that’s somebody’s daughter,’ ” said Thorsen, who has a 14-year-old daughter. “I couldn’t accept seeing that. It makes you go, ‘OK, something’s gotta be done.’ ”
The attacker eventually walked away.
Thorsen spotted two Victoria police bike officers and pointed out the victim and the attacker, who was arrested and charged with assault.
Victoria Police Chief Frank Elsner said it’s impossible for the police to be everywhere, all the time, so it’s heartening to know there are citizens willing to help others.
“We’re looking for true heroes in our community and that’s what you are,” Elsner told Thorsen, as his family looked on. [email protected]
