SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - A Miami woman faces a felony charge of driving under the influence after, authorities said, she struck a Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office deputy with her car, causing serious injuries that required multiple surgeries.
Janice Garcia, 28, turned herself in on Sunday and was charged with DUI causing serious bodily injury, a third-degree felony.
The next morning, a Miami-Dade courtroom was filled with family members of the deputy, as Circuit Court Judge Mindy S. Glazer read the charges that the suspect is facing.
“Struck an officer who was in the line of duty at 3:30 in the morning and injured him very badly,” said Glazer.
According to the arrest affidavit, MDSO deputies were on uniform patrol in the Kendall neighborhood, just after 3:30 a.m. om April 11.
That’s when, officials said, Garcia’s blue 2020 Mazda, traveling northbound on Southwest 99th Court near 85th Street, struck the deputy as he walked around the rear of a marked patrol vehicle.
The impact launched the victim into the air. Fire rescue transported him to HCA Florida Kendall Hospital as a trauma alert.
The deputy suffered a spinal compression fracture and multiple broken bones, including a fractured fibula that required surgery, as well as numerous soft tissue injuries.
A member of the Sheriff’s Impaired Driving Enforcement Squad responded and made contact with Garcia, who was described as visibly distraught, with slurred speech, bloodshot eyes and the odor of alcohol on her breath.
“So Deputy Brown is very seriously injured as a result of a careless and reckless driving behavior by a DUI. He will probably never be the same, and he’s lucky he’s alive today,” said South Florida Police Benevolent Association Executive Vice President David Greenwell. “This happens too often. People should not drink and drive.”
Garcia agreed to field sobriety testing and voluntarily submitted to a blood draw. Toxicology results confirmed her blood alcohol level was nearly twice Florida’s legal limit of 0.08.
She surrendered to authorities at Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center in West Miami-Dade and is being held there.
Copyright 2026 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.