DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (WSVN) — A beach day took a dangerous turn when a Florida sergeant ran over two young women who were relaxing in the sand, triggering accusations of careless behavior by the mother of one of the victims.
Newly released body camera video captured the immediate aftermath of the Memorial Day crash on Daytona Beach.
The Volusia County Beach Patrol sergeant who ran over the victims is seen reacting to the incident.
“You alright?” another officer asked the sergeant.
“I’m still trying to process,” said the sergeant.
The sergeant claimed he didn’t see the sunbathing pair. In the bodycam video, he said, “They’re laying down, I’m looking at the water, I, I – it happened. I don’t know.”
The victims were lying on their beach towels when they were hit on May 27.
Jessica Juarez, the mother of one of the women, owns a hair salon in Kissimmee, where her daughter works.
“Hair styling is all about, you know, your upper body and your neck, and her neck, she has so many injuries in her neck,” said Juarez.
The concerned parent said her daughter is on a long road to recovery, adding she just returned to work a few days ago.
“It stretched my faith, and it stretched my daughter’s faith,” said Juarez.
Juarez called the sergeant’s actions careless.
“The lack of professionalism from that sergeant is – it’s concerning to me,” she said.
The sergeant told investigators that the situation started when he pulled over to talk with another sergeant.
“I was here for two minutes. He rolled out, and I talked to him for maybe another couple of minutes,” he said in the bodycam video. “I was like, ‘All right, I’m going to go get some food at the station, and I mean, here, you see, I start to turn a little bit.”
“We expect that the lifeguards there are taking priority and safety, and that doesn’t seem too safe to me,” said Juarez.
Juarez said she’s thankful her daughter was able to make the call that day, letting her know what happened.
“The things that we have to deal with, we’ll deal with, and we’ll take joy in the fact that she’s still here,” she said.
The sergeant was cited with careless driving. An official said they’ll determine whether or not disciplinary action will be needed after an agency reviews all of the facts.
