New video of a crash that was captured on a Florida Highway Patrol cruiser’s dashcam, showed the moment a trooper was struck by a hit-and-run driver.
The impact of the crash was so severe that the rapid breathing of the officer was caught on video. The crash sending both the trooper and the driver who hit him to the hospital.
The incident unfolded around 7 a.m. on Jan 2. on the northbound lanes of Interstate 75 approaching Indian Trace in Weston.
Dashcam footage showed FHP Trooper Robinson being hit from behind by a black Porsche. Video from inside the cruiser showed the trooper driving along when the headlights of the Porch, officials said, approached the cruiser at a high rate of speed.
Robinson then swerved to the right to avoid the vehicle but the front of the Porsche hit the cruiser’s rear left side.
“Tony, Tony, Tony, I’ve been hit, Tony,” Robinson is heard saying on the video.
The trooper’s rear-facing camera also showed the impact.
The FHP trooper’s vehicle, visibly damaged on the back and front left side, then crashed into the median barrier.
The hit-and-run driver was identified as 49-year-old Ricardo Jimenez. He was seen hitting the trooper’s cruiser, and its side camera captured the SUV hitting a car carrier, which caused significant damage to the Porsche, disabling it.
After his vehicle was damaged, Jimenez abandoned the scene on foot, which led to a massive manhunt involving Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies and FHP troopers.
The manhunt was concluded just before 9 a.m., as Jimenez was apprehended and cuffed by deputies. He was transported to the hospital after sustaining injuries.
Robinson was also seen visibly hurt and breathing hard while he was inside his cruiser. He suffered from head, neck and pain to his knees.
“I’m on 93 North. Damn! 448 Signal 4, vehicle, northbound 93,” Robinson tells other deputies on the walkie-talkie in the video.
He was taken to the Cleveland Clinic for treatment and is expected to be OK.
Jimenez was transferred to the Broward County Jail after he was cleared from the hospital. He has since been charged with failure to stop at an accident with non-serious injuries, two counts of leaving the scene of crash with property damage, leaving the scene of accident without leaving ID and resisting arrest without violence.
He has since bonded out of jail.
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Source: wsvn
