Injury Is Second On Job In 2 Years
TAMPA – Hillsborough County sheriff’s Deputy Gus Garcia has been injured on the job a second time.
Last year it was a BB to the face.
Thursday, his marked car was hit by another car.
Investigators say Garcia was sitting in his patrol car conducting an impound with his patrol lights activated about 1:30 a.m., when a car driven by Toil Smith, 32, ran into the back of Garcia’s parked car on Anderson Road, south of Waters Avenue. Investigators say Garcia’s car was pushed into the car in front of him.
Garcia, 41, and Smith were taken to St. Joseph’s Hospital. Smith was treated and taken to jail. He was freed on bail, charged with driving under the influence. Garcia is recovering from minor injuries.
In February 2006, Garcia was hit in the face with a BB. He was treated at the scene for a welt on his face.
“I felt at the moment scared,” Garcia said at the time. “But I had to react. I didn’t know if it was a bullet or what.”
He drew his handgun and crouched, looking along Waters Avenue, but saw nothing. The closest the shooter could have been was 75 feet, he said.
At the time, Garcia said he has two priorities on the job.
The first priority is serving the public, he said. “Priority No. 2 is getting home.”
Garcia’s troubles “show the potential danger a street deputy faces, from a drive-by-shooting to getting rear-ended at a traffic stop,” sheriff’s office spokesman J.D. Callaway said. “It’s the daily dangers a deputy faces. Gus Garcia’s made news twice now.”
Deputies did not determine who shot Garcia in the face, Callaway said.
