POMPANO BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - An early morning workday turned tragic for a portable sanitation worker after he was struck by a Broward Sheriff’s Office deputy’s patrol car.
The incident happened at 5:30 a.m. on the 1100 block of North Ocean Drive in Pompano Beach, Friday.
The sanitation worker had parked his truck in the left turning lane, according to BSO.
Video footage showed damage to the front window of the police cruiser.
The man who was struck is a local sanitation worker.
The on-duty deputy struck the sanitation worker who was most likely servicing restrooms at an area construction site.
Several witnesses saw the crash and said the man had stepped out of the truck when the deputy was heading the opposite direction.
“The porta-potty guy had been hit by a cop,” said Bernard Fisher, who works near the crash site. “Sanitation guy, and that’s his job, and he stepped out his truck, and the incident happened.”
“The sanitation guy got hit by the police and that was it,” said Armando Gonzales, who works near the crash site.
Deputies said the on-duty deputy struck a man with his patrol car.
The deputy’s window showed the extent of the impact.
According to BSO, the deputy rendered aid to the worker until fire rescue arrived.
Broward Fire Rescue arrived minutes later to transport both the worker and the deputy to an area hospital.
The worker suffered life-threatening injuries.
The BSO deputy was also taken to a hospital in the area as a precaution.
“It was an accident, the guy stepped out, and you can’t step out in ongoing traffic,” said Fisher.
North Ocean Drive was closed off from the 1000 and 1300 blocks on the street as detectives investigated the crash.
Work was also paused for construction workers in the area.
“They shut the job site down, everybody’s going home, everybody went home,” Gonzales said.
7News has learned that the worker worked for Miami based company AES Portable Sanitation.
The manager of the company said her employee is in intensive care.
As of 9 p.m., the sanitation worker remains in the ICU with life-threatening injuries.
Traffic homicide detectives are investigating the crash.
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