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Authorities are investigating after a sheriff’s deputy on patrol drove over a 23-year-old woman Wednesday afternoon while she was sunbathing on a popular beach in western Florida, police said.
Officials with the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office said Deputy Todd Brien, who had been patrolling St. Pete Beach, was parked in his marked Chevrolet Tahoe when he was dispatched to a 911 call. When leaving, he made a right turn and drove over the woman, who was lying on the sand, according to a statement from the sheriff’s office. A front tire hit the victim in the “mid to upper back area,” it read.
Authorities said the victim, identified as Robin Diffenderfer, was rushed to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
The sheriff’s office did not immediately respond Friday to a request by The Washington Post for comment.
Bystander Anna DePellegrin told the Tampa Bay Times that the deputy was driving close to the water in an especially crowded area. “It was right in the middle of the beach, where we feel it was obviously very unsafe,” she said.
She told the newspaper she heard people screaming and shouting at the deputy to stop, saying he had hit someone. She said her husband and son helped the deputy lift the SUV off the woman while she and her daughter helped pull her to safety. The deputy then radioed for help, the family said.
DePellegrin, a nurse visiting with her family from Toronto, told the Times that the woman had tire marks on her back and a head wound and that she complained that she could not feel her leg. The nurse said she stayed with the woman until paramedics arrived and took the woman to a hospital.
Another beachgoer told Fox affiliate WTVT that the incident was “horrible,” adding that the deputy should have looked closely for people on the beach before driving away.
Responding to an announcement about the incident on the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office’s Facebook page, commenters said that although it appeared to be an accident, officers should take greater precautions driving on the beach.
“Maybe don’t drive huge vehicles on the beach?” one person wrote.
Another alleged that she was recently walking on a beach “and a cop came within inches of hitting me. He didn’t even slow down.”
Brien, the 58-year-old deputy, was hired by the sheriff’s office in 2013. He did not suffer any injuries, police said.
Authorities have not released additional information about the incident.