An Ocoee police officer has been cited by the Florida Highway Patrol in connection with a more than 90 mph chase that ended with a crash, injuring an innocent driver and sending her car spinning in a busy intersection.
Troopers said Officer Chris Bonner failed to obey traffic laws and was at fault for the crash.
The crash happened last Tuesday just before 5 a.m. on Orange Blossom Trail and Holden Avenue.
(app users can see video here)
Ocoee police said the officer was involved in a pursuit with two armed robbery suspects out of Altamonte Springs. Officers said the men robbed two people overnight, taking money and a firearm, and fled in a stolen Honda.
Records show the chase reached speeds over 90 mph down Orange Blossom Trail.
According to troopers with FHP, Bonner had on the emergency lights and siren as he traveled east on Holden Avenue.
Bonner struck another driver, Yahaira Castro Montalvo, who had the green light.
Bonner then lost control and struck a pole and a fire hydrant, FHP said.
(
)
Video shows the suspects’ car blowing through the intersection about seven seconds before the crash.
Seconds after officers gave their location to dispatch, video shows the lead Ocoee police car in the chase slows down, but the second patrol car passes him.
It’s not known if the suspects ran a red light when they went through the intersection before the officers.
The crash sent debris flying all over the road and Montalvo’s car spinning several times.
Montalvo was taken to a nearby hospital for injuries to both arms.
Before investigators released the video, Channel 9 asked Ocoee police to explain how the crash happened.
Lt. Mike Bryant said Bonner followed Officer Jonathan Joseph through the intersection.
“He's within his policy, he's within his rights, to continue as the second car in that particular chase,” Bryant said.
But the new video shows Bonner blowing by Joseph’s stopped cruiser.
Bryant also said last week, “We’re not supposed to blow through a red light. No. The bad guy will blow through a red light. We’re supposed to pull up, let everyone know we’re coming (with sirens), and then we shoot through it."
Channel 9 contacted the department to see if it still stands behind its initial account of the wreck, but did not hear back.
During a news conference Wednesday, Montalvo said she didn’t realize she had been hit until she woke up in the hospital.
“The only car that I saw was the one that passed the red light before the officer hit me,” Montalvo said.
Bonner suffered a broken leg, wrist and ankle, his mother told Channel 9.
Another officer assisting in the chase immediately stopped to help Montalvo and Bonner.
Bonner has been with the department for six years and has not had any problems.
Ocoee police have been in the headlines for mistakes they made this year.
On Feb. 6, officers fired shots into the wrong home after investigating a 911 call.
Less than a week later, a narcotics officer resigned after accusations he was selling drugs and protecting gangs.
Later that month, a man involved in a crash questioned the responding officer after she wrote three different reports on the accident.
Then in March, supervisors were accused of playing favorites for which officers got overtime.
Sign Up
