SUNRISE, FLA. (WSVN) - Some children were forced to dodge danger when a Coral Springs Police cruiser veered into a front yard in Sunrise and just kept going. It was a very close call for those children and that officer. Now, his department is now taking action.
The officer came within inches of a grandmother, four children and a teenager, Wednesday morning.
They weren’t hit, but they were shaken up.
“I grabbed the kids because I was so shocked,” said Donna Banner.
Banner could be heard screaming and seen grabbing her child and four grandchildren on alarming home surveillance video from across the street that shows a police officer nearly hitting the children and taking off.
“It was heartbreaking,” said Denise Ford, the children’s mother. “I was like shocked because anything could have happened. I could have lost four of my kids.”
It happened Wednesday morning as they were waiting for the school bus along Northwest 85th Avenue and 25th Court.
This cruiser appears to slam on its brakes to stop for the school bus that’s out of frame, and shortly after, swerves to avoid hitting a stopped car. Then, the marked Coral Springs Police car swerves into the yard and nearly runs them over.
You can even hear the bus driver blowing the horn, telling the officer to stop.
The children’s mother, who wasn’t there at time, was stunned by the dangerous situation, especially since, she said, the officer just drove off and never stopped.
“What if you would have hit my kids?” she said. “You didn’t stop to say, ‘Hey, is they OK?’ I was traumatized.”
The police chief of Coral Springs Police later released a statement that reads in part, “We were able to identify the officer who was driving the vehicle. That officer has been issued formal discipline…”
The family said they are now hoping more action against the officer will be taken, but they are grateful the children were not hurt, although Ford’s daughter did complain of neck pain.
This incident was never reported to Sunrise Police, so no charges or traffic citations are expected in the City of Sunrise. As far as Coral Springs Police, we will have to wait and see.
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