A Broward Sheriff’s Office motorcycle deputy likely was pursuing another vehicle when he was killed in a crash with a Mercedes-Benz in Pompano Beach last September, the agency said.
The BSO said in a report Friday that Christopher Schaub, 47, turned his green Harley-Davidson into the path of the silver Mercedes-Benz and didn’t see it coming toward him until it was too late, the Sun Florida Sun Sentinel reported.
The collision occurred at the intersection of West McNab Road and North Andrews Avenue on Sept. 26. Schaub, who appeared to be following a black vehicle that had already turned onto Andrews Avenue, had entered the left-hand turn lane when the crash occurred, BSO Detective Michael Wiley wrote in a 26-page traffic homicide report.
Two witnesses said that Schaub, a 22-year BSO veteran, appeared to be attempting to catch up to a vehicle to do a traffic stop. Deputy Erick Zamora told Wiley that Schaub was changing lanes and passing vehicles, the Sun Sentinel reported.
A third witness said he appeared to be going “somewhere fast.” But the BSO report said speed was not a factor in the crash, as both Schaub’s motorcycle and Mirtha Odell’s Mercedes were moving at about 40 mph. The 63-year-old woman told detectives that she was traveling east on McNab Road when Schaub, who was heading in the opposite direction, turned in front of her.
Schaub died several hours later at Broward Health Medical Center, where hundreds of fellow BSO deputies had gathered. The motorman inspired his son, Tim Schaub, to also become a BSO deputy.
Odell, of Fort Lauderdale, received minor injuries, according to the Sun Sentinel.
