Volume 134 Number 36 TUESDAY, AUGUST I, 2000 COPY 75¢ (70¢ + 5¢ GST) 28 Pages Cops defend response to woman's call By Chris Hall Port Perry Star A Durham Regional Police cruiser was dispatched within two minutes of a 911 call warning police that a drunk driver was preparing to hit the road, where he would eventually kill himself and two others in a horrific accident north of Port Perry last week. The officer was sent to Catherine Caines' Ritson Rd. home within two minutes of her first call to 911, at 5:23 p.m. on July 23, say police. The response was called off at 5:28 p.m. when Ms Caines made a second call to say that Robert Bonenfant, 39, had already left her home and was making his way north on Hwy. 12. A half-hour later the man's 2000 GMC Sonoma swerved across the centre line near Saintfield, and collided with a southbound passenger van. Donald Gainer, 50, of Oshawa, and his 11-year-old son Brian were killed in the accident. Two passengers in the van, Eva Gainer, 41, and Catherine Millson, a family friend, suffered serious injuries. Mr. Bonenfant, of Oshawa, was also killed. The response time of the Durham Regional Police, and Please turn to page 15 Two more are killed on area roadways Two more people are dead after accidents on area roads last week. A Seagrave man died in a motorcycle accident north of Port Perry Thursday, while an infant was the victim of a crash involving an impaired driver just south of the township line in Clarington Saturday. In total, seven people have died as a result of mishaps on area roads in the past two weeks. In the latest incidents: 0 Police say a man was driving drunk when he missed a stop sign and slammed into a passing vehicle, killing a six- month-old girl and injuring her parents south of Blackstock last weekend. Durham Regional Police said a 44-year-old Newcastle man was eastbound on the Sixth Concession of Clarington in his 1999 GMC Sierra pickup when he failed to stop at the inter- Please turn to page 14 Pe