A violent crash caught on a police officer’s dashcam in May 2016 shows the cop’s cruiser barreling into a Smart car at 104 mph, authorities say. And now the officer is facing trial over the incident.
Back in May 2016, Brandon Hegel, a Palm Beach County deputy sheriff, was arrested after he plowed into 60-year-old Harry Deshommes Smart car at 104 mph, according to a report from CBS12 in Florida. The crash left Deshommes with a litany of injuries.
Here’s more from CBS12:
Deshommes had a brain injury, fractured skull, a broken left arm, back, ribs and pelvis and had to have his spleen removed, according to court documents.
Brandon Hegele was driving 104 mph westbound on Southern Boulevard when he plowed into the Smart car Deshommes was driving, investigators say.
Hegele has been on unpaid leave since September 2016, the report says.
The scene described by the Palm Beach Post shows how fast the officer was traveling in the moments before the crash:
Investigators say Deshommes made a U-turn east of Cleary Road to head west on Southern, six seconds before the impact. In those six seconds, investigators say Hegele traveled a distance of 883 feet. That’s the length of nearly three football fields.
Witnesses told investigators the light-blue Smart car rolled over several times before it came to its final stop, facing south on the sidewalk just before Cleary and Florida’s Turnpike.
Hegel’s trial is set to begin August 28, according to the reports.