It’s been 10 days since a Walton County sheriff’s deputy ran over a sunbather with his pickup truck, and official statements about the affair are murky with ifs, whens and maybes. No charges have been filed. The deputy is still on duty. The Sheriff’s Office hasn’t decided what to do.
If YOU had run over somebody sleeping on the beach, don’t you think the cops would’ve known what to do?
But in the case of Deputy Chad Biernacki, who drove over a 21-year-old Destin woman on the evening of May 28, seriously injuring her, the authorities are taking their time.
The Florida Highway Patrol looked into the incident and concluded that, indeed, the deputy was at fault. “The crash was the direct result of (the deputy’s) failure to observe (the sunbather) or ensure that the path in front of his vehicle was clear prior to moving forward,” the FHP’s report said.
But the FHP did not issue the deputy a citation. He remains on active duty.
A Sheriff’s Office accident review board will study the FHP report and decide whether to discipline the deputy, said sheriff’s Maj. A.J. Smith.
Either the authorities are being extra careful in their handling of this case, or they’re going easy because the driver at fault is a fellow cop. For now, we’ll assume they’re being slow because they’re being careful.
But we’ll keep watching.
↧
EDITORIAL: A deputy, a sunbather and FHP
↧