ORMOND BEACH, Fla. — An Ormond Beach Police motorcycle officer was seriously injured in a collision with a truck and airlifted to a hospital Wednesday afternoon.
- Motorcycle cop hurt in crash while responding to call
- Motorcycle's lights and siren were on at the time, police say
- Cops: Truck made U-turn in front of motorcycle
The crash happened on the 1500 block of Hand Avenue in Ormond Beach at about 3 p.m.
The officer was responding with lights and siren to a call regarding a possible armed suspicious person in the area when a white truck made a U-turn in front of him, police said. The police motorcycle struck the driver's side door of the truck.
The officer was airlifted to Halifax Hospital as a trauma alert, Ormond Beach Police said, but his condition has not been released.
Joe Putting is the lead pastor at Tomoka Christian Church. Putting said the officer attends his church, and the pastor talked to him at the hospital.
“He doesn’t remember what happened; that’s the toughest part of it," Putting said. "He said, 'I remember riding my motorcycle and that’s the last thing I remember.'
“He is conscious. He has some broken bones, but he was talking, he was laughing some. He was surrounded by Ormond Police, his brothers in blue. They were getting him to laugh. He’s pretty banged up but going to make a full recovery from what I saw,” Putting said.
The driver of the truck incurred minor injuries and was treated at the scene.
The identities of the driver and motorcycle officer have not been released.
Putting said the officer is married and has two children.
“He’s just a good family man and great police officer,” Putting said.
The Florida Highway Patrol has been asked to investigate the crash.