Two citizens in Florida stepped in to aid a deputy when a suspect began attacking him during a recent traffic stop.
Deputy Anthony Zimmerer of the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office stopped a black Ford F-150 once it cut across traffic lanes and nearly hit him, Fox 32 reported Thursday.
In a Facebook post on Wednesday, the sheriff’s office shared bodycam footage of the incident and detailed what took place:
Zimmerer conducted a traffic stop on the driver, Frank Padilla Velez (DOB 5/17/1980), whose behavior was erratic. When Zimmerer attempted to place handcuffs on him, Padilla hit Zimmerer in the head with his elbow, knocking the handcuffs into the middle of the road, and started fighting him.
Two witnesses saw what was happening and jumped out of their vehicles to help. Padilla thrashed on the ground and tried to bite Zimmerer’s leg. A Taser had no effect on him. The struggle caused the deputy’s body camera’s main power button to switch off before more deputies got to the scene and helped take Padilla into custody.
A citizen wearing a light-colored shirt and glasses, who had what appeared to be a cut on his forehead, worked with the officers to restrain the suspect:
We want to send out a big THANK YOU to the two outstanding citizens who stopped to help a deputy who was involved in a…
Posted by Volusia Sheriff's Office on Wednesday, May 19, 2021
When an officer asked a man in a blue T-shirt what happened, he said, “I was at the intersection and they started fighting. … I’m a witness. I pulled in here. This is his truck, and the dog jumped out, so I put the dog back in the truck.”
The suspect was later charged with resisting an officer with violence, battery on a law enforcement officer, driving with a suspended license, careless driving, and expired registration, according to the post.
In a press release, Sheriff Mike Chitwood praised the men who helped the deputy and announced his plans to honor their actions with citizen’s awards.
“All my respect and gratitude goes out to these two men who took action when they saw a deputy under attack. It makes me proud to know that in Volusia County, our residents still have our deputies’ backs,” he stated.
Facebook users echoed his comments, one person writing, “It really does me good to see citizens helping our men and women in blue that’s fantastic that’s the way it’s supposed to be.”
“It’s an amazing thing to see people helping our law enforcement instead of turning against them. A rare thing in these times. Thanks to all!” another said.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.