An 8-year-old is recovering from multiple brain surgeries after a Sarasota, Florida, patrol officer rammed into him with his police cruiser as the boy rode his motorbike.
Sarasota police have released bodycam footage from the unidentified officer involved in the October 28 tragedy. He has been placed on restrictive administrative duty pending the completion of an investigation led by the Florida Highway Patrol.
The officer had just left another call for service when he runs into the boy on a dirt bike. Just before the accident, the officer can be seen coming to a rolling stop at a stop sign, an offense that generally warrants traffic ticket.
“Oh, f—!” he responds after realizing what has just happened. Police say the boy entered the intersection in front of the cop’s vehicle. He’s first seen on the bodycam footage lying in the road, motionless.
“You just hit my f—ing nephew!” one man says repeatedly as frantic witnesses — screaming, crying and praying — surround Gerald’s body. The cop is soon joined by other officers administering medical attention to the youth.
One man shouts at the officer who hit Gerald, “You’re dead ass wrong. “You’re dead ass wrong!”
The officer can later be seen frantically clearing a path for a fire engine arriving to the chaotic scene.
Tampa television station WTSP reports Gerald had just gotten the dirt bike as a birthday present. His mother, Regina Sanders, said he was heading home because he was frightened by police activity in the neighborhood.
“The cops teach us not to speed in residential areas,” Sanders said. “They have speed limits on the side of the roads for a reason. Whether he had a call or not, you had no business going that fast.”
It’s unclear whether the officer was speeding. But a witness told the station police cruisers typically drive through the neighborhood well above the speed limit.
“The cops you just see them flying at least hitting 60 miles and they don’t care about the stop signs just flying through the roads,” a witness said. “I was inside and I just heard something scraping and then you just see the little minibike on there.”
Sarasota Police Chief said his department will assist the Florida State Patrol in its investigation of the accident.
“We cannot imagine how difficult this is for his family,” he said in a video statement. “Our thoughts and prayers are with you.”
Gerald still has to undergo jaw and knee surgery and is expected to survive, hospital officials said. The officer involved was uninjured but is “understandably shaken,” Sarasota police said.
