During an exclusive interview, News 13 learned about one Orlando police officer’s struggle to find help after being run over by a suspect.

  • OPD officer William Anderson was injured in 2015
  • Anderson responded to a shots fired call and was run over by suspect
  • Anderson says he has struggled to find help after his injury

In July 2015, Orlando Police Officer William Anderson was working off-duty detail when he got the call that shots had been fired in a nearby area.

Anderson responded and attempted to pull over two suspects. During the traffic stop, however, Anderson was hit by that car and left wounded on the roadway.

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“The doorbell rang and I remember it was about 12:30, and I remember seeing the silhouette of an officer,” Anderson’s wife, Jessica said, recalling the moment she found out her husband was on his way to the hospital in critical condition.

Anderson survived after he was run over by two teens fleeing a shooting scene.

“I remember waking up from the medically induced coma,” Anderson said. “I didn’t know where I was. I thought I was in the back of an ambulance because I was still seeing red and yellow flashing lights.”

Fourteen months later he walks with a cane and a guide dog. Anderson struggles with severe pain following the traumatic brain and spinal cord injury sustained during the crash.

“It’s like someone takes a knife and sticks it at the bottom of your spine and rakes it up and down your spine,” Anderson explained. “I’ve been told I am permanently disabled by two of my doctors.”

As Anderson recovers, he and his family have spent the last year in and out of hospitals. Anderson has been told he will never be able to work again because his condition causes chronic pain and memory inconsistencies.

The Andersons said they continue to struggle for benefits, telling News 13 they are still trying to work with the City of Orlando to see if their $1,700 monthly insurance premiums will continue to be paid after Anderson medically retires. According to the Andersons, the city said they will have to start paying those premiums themselves because his injuries do not qualify as “catastrophic.”

In a statement about the premiums, a city spokesperson said, “this is still an open and active case and no final decisions regarding medical insurance premiums have been made yet.”

Jessica Anderson says the entire process has been difficult, frustrating and full of obstacles.

“It’s something I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. No one should have to fight this hard for someone to get help for treatment, let alone a wounded law enforcement officer,” Jessica Anderson said.

“If I had been killed in the line of duty, my daughter’s school would have been paid for, we would have gotten a lot of grants for the family,” Anderson said. “But unfortunately, for wounded officers there’s nowhere near the benefits.”

However, this November things could change. A new amendment, Amendment 3, is on the ballot.

If it passes, first responders permanently disabled in the line of duty, would be exempt from paying property taxes.

“It would be a relief. I mean $1,500 a year is better than zero dollars a year,” Anderson said.

We also spoke with Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings about the proposed amendment. He said that if a person is totally disabled they are unable to work and their income is likely to go down. “When you exempt the person from ad-valorem taxes it really helps them to live and it’s a way for all Floridians to say ‘thank you’ for that sacrifice,” Demings said.

“This is just a logical step,” said former Orange County Sheriff Deputy Adam Pierce. “It’s something that should’ve been there for a long time and is not there, and we are just trying to write what we consider a wrong.”

Pierce is another first responder who was permanently disabled in the line of duty. He was shot once in the head and in the neck by a suspect back in 2005.

Now he works with the Wounded Officers Initiative, spreading the word about the struggle wounded officers endure. He says as a member of the Wounded Officers Initiative, and a wounded officer himself, he is excited to see if the amendment passes.

If it does, Pierce and the Andersons still might have to wait until legislators draft another bill for next year’s legislative session to determine how the exemption process will work.

Both men say they are also interested to find out just how whether the amendment will apply to those physically disabled or mentally disabled as well.

Anderson continues to go through physical therapy three times a week.

The trial for Edward Kelty, the man accused of running Anderson over, has been pushed back to October.