HOLLYWOOD, FLA. (WSVN) - A man who is well-known in South Florida’s law enforcement community was involved in a multi-vehicle crash in Hollywood that caused a light pole to come crashing down onto his vehicle.
Florida International University Police Capt. Delrish Moss, a veteran with more than three decades of experience in law enforcement, knows what it is to face danger.
Even so, he acknowledged the traffic scare on Thursday night could have had a more serious outcome.
“It could have been catastrophic,” he said.
Moss, who has also held the rank of major for City of Miami Police and was the chief of the Ferguson Police Department in Missouri, said he had just finished working out and was heading home from the gym.
“I was thinking about taking a hot shower and relaxing,” he said.
Moss said he was sitting in traffic and listening to music near State Road 7 and Fillmore Street when he heard a loud noise.
“Suddenly, ‘boom!'” he said. “[Two cars] collided into each other, causing the other one to veer off the road and up on the concrete here and hit the pole.”
The force of the impact brought down the pole. Fortunately, the brunt of it missed Moss’ Jeep.
“My car was about here, in the second lane,” he said.
Moss showed a 7News crew just how close a call it was. The portion of the pole that holds the light dented and scraped up his vehicle.
“I didn’t realize how heavy it was until I felt it rock my car,” he said.
Moss was fine, as was everyone else involved in the four-vehicle wreck.
He said police officers responded to the scene and cited those who were at fault.
Moss said the person driving next to him was even luckier.
“If he had pulled up just a little bit more, he’d probably be dead by now,” he said.
Now, this longtime police officer counts himself very lucky.
“I think this was the closest call. Thirty-seven years in law enforcement, you see a lot,” he said, “but it’s always a different perspective, it’s always different when you’re on this side of the event.”
Moss keeps a rubber duck with him at all times when driving, and he said it’s a popular ritual for Jeep drivers.
“They say this little guy is lucky. I guess it’s true,” he said.
Just before midnight, 7News cameras captured the toppled light post still on the ground near a Dunkin’ Donuts, along State Road 7, as well as pieces of the light strewn across a grassy area.
At least one driver was cited.
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