FLORIDA CITY, Fla. — A 19-year-old man has been arrested following Tuesday night’s crash that injured a Florida City police officer.
The crash was reported around 9:30 p.m. along the 1200 block of North Krome Avenue.
According to the suspect’s arrest report, the officer was in the area investigating a robbery and was standing next to the open door of his marked police SUV, facing north on Krome Avenue.
That’s when a silver Honda Civic, being driven southbound by Giovanni Mendez-Simon, slammed into the SUV head-on.
The impact of the crash pushed the officer to the ground and a second officer was able to jump out of the way to safety.
According to the arrest report, Mendez-Simon’s blood-alcohol level was double the legal limit and he had slurred speech, watery eyes and smelled of an alcoholic beverage.
He was arrested on charges of DUI, DUI causing damage to property or a person and driving without a valid license.
The injured officer was airlifted to a hospital, but is said to have suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
He has since been released and is said to be at home recovering with his family.
Mendez-Simon posted a bond of $3,150 and was released from jail late Wednesday afternoon.
Speaking with Local 10 News’ Roy Ramos, Mendez-Simon expressed great remorse for what happened and said he was very thankful that the officer did not suffer any serious injuries.
He said he wanted the officer to know that nothing like this would ever happen again.
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