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Teen Cited After Crash With Deputy
October 24, 2011
An Escambia County teen was cited after an accident with a marked Escambia County Sheriff’s Office vehicle Monday afternoon.
Escambia County Deputy Burt Craft, 28, was responding with lights and sirens on Saufley Field Road to an armed robbery call when the Florida Highway Patrol says 16-year old Cody Steven Kirk traveled into the path of the patrol unit at the intersection of Saufley Field Road and Mobile Highway.
Kirk was charged with failure to yield to an emergency vehicle. Kirk and his passenger 18-year old Nickolas Lullo, were not injured. Deputy Craft received minor injuries and was transported to Sacred Heart Hospital.
Comments
16 Responses to “Teen Cited After Crash With Deputy”
Since a percentage of you do not want policemen running lights and sirens to emergency calls, i think you should have the 911 capabilities removed from your phone. I wouldn’t want the officer to speed and go through intersections to protect your thankless butt. When you start to talk trash about someone, you never know whose son or husband you might be talking about (just a piece of advice) Deputies risk their lives for thankless people like you for less than you make, barely over minimum wage, most of them have to work multiple jobs to make ends meet. All they ask is the respect that they deserve from the public. The only time that they receive that is when you need them for something!
The kid is uninjured and my son has both head, neck and arm injuries. The kid was cited for the accident, which means it was his fault. It all seem so unfair. Please pay attention to approaching emergency vehicles and move to the right, don’t try to out run them. You have more time than you do lives! It seems like people have forgot that they are legally suppose to yield the right of way to emergency vehicles and to funerals. Respect cost nothing;Disrespect could cost a life. Police officers are out there defending and protecting your life, I think that respect is the least they should
expect……
“…a police nation would be fine with me.”
Gordumb: Then I can guarantee that you will never be placed in a position where you can make any important decisions.
The deputy did slow down at the intersection, had his lights and sirens running, and then proceeded after what he thought was all of the traffic stopping. Was there anything else he should have done, maybe send an invitation to this young man to meet him at this intersection at a slow speed? This is one reason the driving age should go up from 16 to 18. I know supposedly he did not have his radio on (right),
was not talking on a cell phone (right) and had his window rolled down on a day that the temps were over 80 degrees. I am surprised he could make his way out of his car with those angel wings in the way. Anyway, I an glad all is okay and a police nation would be fine with me. By the way policemen DO the exact kind of slow and proceed that ambulance drivers do.
All you people blindly defending the police in these instances take note: the cop has just as much responsibility to practice caution as the rest of us. Just a cop i responding to a call doesn’t mean he can cruise through a red light without slowing down. Have cops ever observed how ambulance drivers do it? If not someone needs to train them.
Slowing down and then proceeding through the intersection AFTER civilian traffic clears isn’t going to make one bit of difference in a life or death situation. Get real people. You all seem to want to live in a police state.
If he had no cell phones, no radio, and the window down, why did he not hear the sirens that everyone else heard. No he was not charged, but he was CITIED!!!!!!!!
I am very happy that no one was seriously hurt, but suggest you take the blinders off
I am sure the dashcam footage will be shown to appease the doubters
.
I didn’t have to believe what I read or saw, I was there, where you? It is amazing that all the other traffic had come to a complete stop. You would have thought that the 16 year old would have noticed THAT. Don’t believe everything a 16 year old tells you either. How was the officer in his lane if the accident happened IN the intersection?
Did the State Troopers forge the accident report as well as many witnesses, I don’t
think so
Being a cop is one of the most dangerous, thankless jobs you will ever have the privilege of doing should you decide to be one. No matter how you do your job someone is always complaining whether it be the criminal or John Q Public.
Cops are under paid and definitely underfunded. It is one of the few jobs where you must make life and death decisions in the blink of an eye. Not once but each and every day all day.
Not only will those decisions be scrutinized by the public but they are reviewed by the police force as well. These officers are well trained and they know when approaching an intersection to slow down and watch for traffic (that is by law supposed to yield to any emergency vehicle)!
This officer did just as he was trained. The SUV did not stop or respond in a timely manner. The state trooper investigating the accident found that the SUV was at fault. His investigation is based on the facts and the scene as well as eye wittiness reports.
Some facts that you may or may not know.
The stress of the job causes some 300 officers to commit suicide annually. On the average nationwide an officer is killed in the line of duty every 57 hours in America each year. Here are those statistic on how they are killed:
16% were on disturbance calls
14% were in robbery arrest situations
14% were investigating suspicious persons/circumstances
13% were making traffic pursuits/stops
13% were attempting arrests for offenses other than robbery or burglary
10% were in ambush situations
7% were in an arrest situation involving drug-related matters
5% were in a burglary arrest situation arrests
6% were in other situations
Like I said it is one of the most thankless jobs out there but we all want a cop ASAP when our personal crisis arises.
Think about this the next time you are so ready to criticize an officer. Till you walk a mile in his shoes you don’t have a clue what it is like to be a policeman. In short you have got to love the job to stay with it!
the boy driving was not on a cell phone, not even the radio. window was down. there were no sirens. lights were flashing but could not be seen from where he was. not cited as to witnesses said there was no way he could have seen the patrolman coming.
he was slowing down coming to the intersection when the patrolman came into HIS LANE.
there are 2 sides to every story, don’t believe everything you read or hear.
To those that think deputies drive like madmen and don’t pay attention and that the wreck might not have been the teen’s fault, REALLY? If they were responding to a call at your home or business would you want them to hurry or stop to radio to dispatch and other radio calls, and take their time? Think about it!! Also, whether charged or cited, the accident was that kid’s fault! It is a law in FL, you MUST give emergency vehicles the right of way. Sorry if his family and him don’t agree. It’s the law.
If you hear a siren, look around, roll down your window and figure out where it is coming from and get out of the way! If you can’t hear a siren because your radio is too loud or because you are on the phone, then turn it down and get off the phone!
why must people in this area bash law enforcement, can you not read the article it clearing states ……” when the Florida Highway Patrol says 16-year old Cody Steven Kirk traveled into the path of the patrol unit ” …
what part of this statement as well as the rest of the story makes you want to say the officer was playing with his cell phone or other devices in his patrol car? Glad no one was hurt.
Wonder if the kid was texting or if the cop was playing with his cell phone, comupter, or radio? The cops aren,t always right, but they are the cops that fault everyone else!
GEE….wonder if Kirk was texting or talking on a cell phone or playing his music to loud? Kudos to Jim W! Glad they were all right!
The kid may not have been at fault. Just because he’s charged or cited doesn’t mean anything. Let’s see the dashcam footage and then decide. Cops around here drive like madmen.
Just glad no one was seriously hurt in the accident. Then kids always wonder why their insurance premiums are so high for their mom and dad’s to add them on their policy.