PALM HARBOR, Fla. -- A Pinellas County deputy was injured early Tuesday in a three-vehicle crash that also involved a Florida Highway Patrol trooper.
- Deputy incurred nonlife-threatening injuries in crash
- Crash also involved FHP trooper's cruiser
- Both were struck by vehicle that went off the road Tuesday
According to officials, the crash happened just after 6 a.m. near the intersection of U.S. Highway 19 North and Highlands Boulevard in Palm Harbor, where law enforcement officials were conducting a traffic stop.
Officials said the crash happened when 61-year-old Samuel Barker was headed southbound on U.S. 19 in a Ford Ranger and veered off the roadway, striking Trooper James Bregon's patrol vehicle.
Barker's Ford truck spun and also struck Deputy Brian Sudbrink's patrol vehicle while Sudbrink was sitting inside his cruiser.
Bregon was standing outside Sudbrink's vehicle at the time of the crash, and the impact knocked Bregon to the ground.
Sudbrink, 49, was taken to Florida Hospital Palm Harbor with nonlife-threatening injuries. Bregon and Barker were uninjured.
Barker told investigators that an unidentified taxi cab cut him off in traffic, which caused him to make an evasive maneuver and veer off the roadway.
Officials said Barker was not speeding nor impaired at the time of the crash, which remains under investigation.