Broward Sheriff's Deputy Jeff Hurt, who survived a violent crash during a pursuit of a suspect, on Thursday talked about the ordeal.
He showed off bruises he sustained when he put himself in harm's way when he was trying to stop a fleeing burglary suspect from injuring innocent people.
"We certainly weren't going to let him harm other people specially innocent bystanders , pedestrians, bicyclist , there's a bus stop right there at the intersection," Hurt said.
On Sept. 19, the deputy heard Joshua Boyce had fled the scene of a burglary in Pompano Beach. As the suspect sped away, he struck and injured Deputy Mike Gardner with his car.
The chase moved north into Deerfield Beach.
"Within a few seconds I noticed blue lights and a black blur coming northbound on A1A and it seemed like he was swerving in and out of traffic and I thought 'My God with the speed that he's going he's going to kill somebody,'" Hurt said.
Hurt would then position his cruiser at the intersection of A1A and Hillsboro Boulevard in order to corner the suspect.
"He made a straight beeline for me, I budged up a little bit, and before I knew it he hit the right rear passenger door of my unit and spun me around," Hurt said.
The deputy was injured, but his maneuver managed to damage the suspect's car. He was forced to surrender. Home video shows Boyce crawling into the custody of authorities.
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Hurt said had Boyce "gone through that intersection at Hillsboro and A1A he would've killed some people and I didn't want a repeat of what had happened the day before."
The day before Martiza Medina was killed when her car was struck by a fleeing murder suspect on U.S. 27.
Boyce, who was shot after he ran over Gardner, was taken to the hospital with non life-threatening injuries, and he now faces a slew of charges including two counts of attempted murder on a law enforcement officer. Gardner is said to be recovering from a broken leg.
