Bradenton Herald
A Florida Highway Patrol trooper is home and recovering on Monday after she used her vehicle to block a rogue driver that was speeding towards a pedestrian event taking place on the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, the agency said in a news release.
The driver, 52-year-old Kristen Kay Watts of Sarasota, bypassed an Interstate 275 closure and failed to stop for multiple law enforcement officers before the crash took place just after 8:45 a.m. Sunday. Watts was later arrested on charges of DUI, two counts of DUI with property damage and two counts of reckless driving involving injury and property damage. More
That’s a brave officer! I hope she makes a full recovery. And the perp, just $52,000.00 bail?
Brava, Trooper Schuck! The Lord did indeed put you where you could do the most good, and you did it extraordinarily well.
Wow!
A guy I graduated the NYPD academy with back in 1992 did the same thing on the Staten Island Expressway, Sadly he did not survive. Some bravery knowing your gonna get slammed. A lot different than a robbery, gun, burglary arrest, those ae more kneejerk (for lack of a better term) type arrests, no thinking, just react. God bless this Officer thru her recovery and fuck the piece of shit booze bag operator of the other vehicle
DUI driver will be out and driving again. Next time she’ll kill someone.
Yes, I think this officer was brave. No, I do not think she did the right thing, I’ll leave it at that.
But …but …DE-FUND THE POLICE!
I ran in the R&R Vegas races Sunday before last.
They had cops with binoculars looking at all the hotel rooms in case some crazy sniper went to town…again.
Road races are ripe targets for terrorists.
That is another reason the Boston bombing punk needs to be killed dead and soon.
I would love to run the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.
I remember the old bridge, it was a scary piece of work…
Rich, she likely was going to sideswipe the car if you look at her path, the drunk swerved left and it was high speed.
I doubt you could do better but good luck if you are in a similar situation…
DC, I attended the NYPD graduation of 1994. The new Mayor (Giuliani) arrived later than expected with the new Commissioner (Bratton) because they had responded to a shooting on a ramp on the Brooklyn Bridge. The victims were Lubavitcher kids. Shooter was a muzz. Witness who called for help was also a muzz. It was the first year that cops were allowed 9mms, Compstat and Guiliani went on to become the best NYC on my lifetime.
Best Mayor ever
DC, Sorry about the loss of your friend ,no doubt he’s flying with Angels now
May he rest in peace. Amen
@Loco
Not trying to stir anything up and I’m glad everything worked out, but I can think of about a dozen ways this action could have gone horribly wrong and several alternative actions the cops could have done.
But yes, it was a selfless act.
Rich, I’m all ears and there is plenty of room here for you to elaborate…
The only video I saw was like 20 seconds long.
Not sure you can make an expert assessment from that is all I’m saying.
Loco, you are right in that I can’t make an expert assessment over a 20-second video, but here is what I did see. That freeway was completely shut down so there was no risk to anyone. That charity run up ahead was on an overpass so unless the errant vehicle could take flight, they were not in danger either. And since they had plenty of warning, all runners could have been diverted.
Notice the front cop car did not see the need to ram the drunk driver. At these speeds, even the pit maneuver is ill-advised.
Fortunately, both drivers did not die but would her actions have been praised if the drunk driver died? What if there were 2 sleeping infants in the back seat of that car, no way of knowing this, and all 3 people died? What if the driver was not drunk at all but had a family emergency and had to get home in a hurry? What if the driver ended up a quadriplegic or the officer?
I know, a lot of what-ifs, and believe me, I hate Monday Morning quarterbacking what cops do, but there were alternatives that they could have done in place of risking a minimum of 2 lives.
Genipero…Guiliani and Bratton allowed us to take the “gloves off” and be cops. Then the mayor bent us over with a 5yr contract with 0 retro money…the contract was 5yrs 0%, 0%, 2%, 2%, 3%. We actually had a legit slowdown, no summonses other than broken equipment. The driver had 24hrs to get it fixed and show a cop and the summons went away and the city didn’t make a dime. If any co-workers were blowjobs and wrote parking tix they got their locker flipped over and a fire extinguisher emptied thru the locker vents
DC, Love your Avatar! By the way I am a gal, regardless of my monicker. My hubby bought me a smartphone and am trying to figure out how to work it. Genipero is one of my favorite
Franciscans.
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That officer I mentioned retired a few years ago after having served in the Mounted Patrol and now owns a little horse farm. Sorry about the lousy deal but thanks for not ticketing some but you guys & gals of the NYPD made the big city hum again, especially in Midtown. So thank you for your service!