SARASOTA, Fla. (WSVN) — A Sarasota Police officer is recovering after being hit by a car.
Monday night’s incident, which was caught on camera, shows the officer flipping over the car upon impact. Police officers were staging a roadblock to stop a suspected burglar when the suspect hit the officer head-on.
The police responded to Mourning Dove Drive around 3 p.m. on Monday to investigate reports of stolen property from a car.
Later in the day, security footage captured a white Mercedes-Benz flying down Bird Key, swerving the parked patrol car and hitting the officer, flipping him over the vehicle.
The officer was rushed to Sarasota Memorial Hospital, where he was later discharged and is expected to make a full recovery.
Sarasota Police Chief Rex Troche commented on the incident the following day during a press conference.
“When we watched the video this morning in our command staff meeting, it was horrific. It was terrible,” he said. “This person needs to be put in jail for what he did. He could have killed an officer last night, and that would have been very unfortunate for us as a family.”
Police are still searching for the driver.
“A white Mercedes was the suspect vehicle,” continued Trotche. “We’re really hoping that people watching the video can help us find out who the subject is.”
The suspect has since been arrested.
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