An Orange County deputy is hospitalized after he crashed his patrol car into a tree early Wednesday morning.
It happened at 1:45 a.m. on Winter Garden Vineland Road near State Road 429.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office says a deputy was monitoring traffic off of Avalon Road when three vehicles drove by at a high rate of speed and one of them crashed. The Sheriff’s Office says several people fled from the vehicle that crashed.
The deputy put out an emergency call for help and a deputy who was rushing to assist left the road and hit a tree on Winter Garden Vineland Road.
Orange County Fire Rescue responded to the scene and had to cut the roof of the cruiser off to get the deputy out.
He was transported to Orlando Regional Medical Center in stable condition and is being held for observation.
Deputies arrested 21-year-old Vanessa Basualdo charging her for the initial felony traffic incident.