By Armando Salguero
Miami Herald
OCOEE, Fla. — A Central Florida police officer who sped through a red light and hit a bystander’s car as he chased robbery suspects has been ticketed, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
Troopers said Ocoee officer Chris Bonner blew through the light at a high rate of speed last week. Some estimates have Bonner traveling at 90 mph when the crash occurred.
Bonner crashed into a car driven by Yahaira Castro as it went through an intersection under a green light. Castro suffered numerous injuries, including a broken arm and her car is totaled, according to reports.
“They had to actually pull me by my arms from out of the car,” Castro said at a news conference Wednesday. “I just want to get better right now, and at least that no one goes through what I go through.
Castro and her attorney talked to the press to announce they will sue the city of Ocoee, saying it doesn’t matter that the officer was pursuing armed robbery suspects with his cruiser’s lights flashing and siren blaring.
Bonner is on paid leave and the Ocoee police issued a statement on the matter:
“There will be an internal investigation looking into the events of the pursuit,” the statement reads.
More than four years ago, a case of cop ticketing cop played out in South Florida after a Florida Highway Patrol trooper stopped a speeding Miami police officer who was on his way to an off-duty assignment in his marked car. Trooper Donna Jane Watts pulled her service revolver on Fausto Lopez before she realized he was a Miami police officer, then ticketed him for traveling at 122 miles per hour on his way to work.
Earlier this year, a Sweetwater officer was arrested for his involvement in a red-light crash in 2015.
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