Deputy Involved In Two Vehicle Crash In Bratt
June 20, 2008
An Escambia County deputy was involved in a two vehicle accident about noon Thursday in Bratt.
Deputy David Ingram, 36, was responding to a call at Wiggins Lake in Walnut Hill where two children where reported to be missing or possibly drowned. Witnesses say he was westbound on Highway 4 near the intersection of North Highway 99 with his emergency lights activated at what witnesses described as a high rate of speed. He attempted to pass a 1986 Mazada pickup truck driven by Alan Lee, 17 of Molino.
The Florida Highway Patrol report on the incident indicated that the patrol car’s emergency lights were activated, but the report does not indicate Ingram’s speed.
Lee told NorthEscambia.com that he was turning into the back parking lot of Cooper’s Store when he was sideswiped by the patrol car. The patrol car then hit a power pole in the store’s parking lot where it sustained major damage.
“He didn’t have his siren on,” Lee said. “If he’d had his siren on, I would would have heard him passing me.”
Ingram was transported by ambulance to Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola. He was complaining of injuries from the patrol car’s airbag and from a laptop computer that had come loose from its mount and struck him in the head. The cruiser’s windshield was cracked where it was apparently hit by the laptop. His injuries were not believed to be severe.
Lee was uninjured in the accident and refused medical treatment. Both Ingram and Lee were wearing their seat belts according the FHP report.
Escambia River Electric Cooperative was forced to replace the power pole because the pole split several feet off the ground from the force of the impact.
The accident is under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol. The FHP says charges are pending. The Sheriff’s Department Crime Scene Unit was also called to the scene.
The two children that were reported to be missing or possibly drowned were located unharmed at a relative’s home before deputies arrived. It had been reported that two girls, ages nine and 10, had left a home on Wiggins Lake wearing their swimsuits and wrapped in towels. When they did not return home, they were reported missing by a relative that had found their towels near the lake.
For more photos from the accident, click here.
Pictures above: Deputy David Ingram’s patrol car. Pictured below: The patrol car and Lee’s pickup. NorthEscambia.com exclusive photos, click to enlarge.
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