Video shows deputy struck by freight train
The MCSO released a video from the crash that shows the northbound freight train approaching the railroad crossing and a deputy's vehicle sitting on the tracks. Seconds later
By Rachael Perry
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MARTIN COUNTY, Florida (WPBF) — Video shows the moment a Martin County Sheriff’s Office deputy was struck by a freight train early Monday morning.
It happened just before 5 a.m. at a railroad crossing near Old Dixie Highway and Southeast County Line Road when two deputies were responding to a report of a burglary in progress.
According to the MCSO, the deputy suffered only minor injuries. He was taken to the hospital and has since been released.
The MCSO released a video from the crash that shows the northbound freight train approaching the railroad crossing and a deputy’s vehicle sitting on the tracks. Seconds later, the two collide.
Sheriff John Budensiek explained how it happened.
“As they (the deputies) went westbound on County Line Road approaching the railroad tracks, the arms were starting to come down. One of the deputies was able to thread through those arms and the second deputy was able to thread through the arms as some of the gates were up and some of the gates were down,” he said. “He was stopped from going all the way through because a secondary set of gates came down.”
Budensiek said the freight train then struck the back of the deputy’s patrol car.
“It did a significant amount of damage to the patrol car but did not injure our deputy, thankfully,” he told WPBF.
When asked if the deputy violated policy, Budensiek said it’s very likely that is the case.
“There’s likely a policy violation in this incident and again, we’re doing an internal review. I’ve looked at the video, the deputies clearly at fault in this and we’ll take care of the administrative side once we get all the facts,” he added.
The deputy has not been placed on administrative duty and continues working in his current role as of Monday afternoon.
Budensiek said the other deputy responded to the initial call of a burglary in progress, which ended up being a mental health incident. He said several other units had to respond to assist with the deputy involved in the crash.
“This is a regular conversation at our briefings. If you don’t make it to the call that you were called to, not only do you not help the people that we were sent to help, but you tie up the rest of the agency dealing with whatever issue you’ve created, and we’re worried about your personal safety,” Budensiek explained. “So the goal is to make it to the call to service our public and if you don’t make it there, then we have defeated our purpose.”
At the end of the day, Budensiek said he was thankful no one was hurt.
“Thankfully, this is an opportunity to have a good reminder without a funeral,” he said.
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