Car that hit OPD vehicle was going 91 mph; officer remains hospitalized
On Aug. 26, one man died and an Ocala Police Department officer was seriously injured in a two-vehicle crash along Maricamp Road. Another person died in a crash that happened just moments before. Here's the latest as the investigation unfolds:
First crash
On Aug. 26, Ocala police were called to a two-vehicle crash at the intersection of Southwest 17th Street and South Pine Avenue.
According to officers, the crash involved a Mazda3 and a Mercedes-AMG. Police were told that the Mazda was traveling in the inside southbound lane of Pine Avenue approaching 17th Street. The Mercedes was northbound on Pine approaching 17th Street.
Officers were told the Mazda swerved into the outside lane and hit the Mercedes. The Mazda fled the scene.
Second crash
Officers responded to the crash site to investigate. An OPD vehicle was in a turn lane and the Mercedes was sitting in the outside northbound lane of Pine Avenue, according to police.
An Acura ILX traveling on 17th Street side-swiped the OPD vehicle and struck a pedestrian who was in the roadway taking pictures of the damage, officers said.
Police said the pedestrian, later identified as James Thompson Jr., was a friend of the Mercedes driver.
Third crash
Officers pursued the Acura eastbound along 17th Street.
Sgt. Ron Malone was sitting in his SUV in the grassy median facing west on Maricamp Road near First Baptist Church. He was going to put stop sticks on Maricamp in an effort to stop the fleeing Acura.
But the Acura hit the SUV with Malone still inside.
Malone and the Acura driver, Kristopher Kent Winningham, were transported to HCA Florida Ocala Hospital. Thompson was taken to the same hospital.
Winningham, 44, and Thompson, 26, died. As of Sept. 1, Malone remained hospitalized.
Speed
Authorities were able to download the Acura event data recorder (EDR). It showed the initial speed was 82 mph at 100 percent acceleration. The speed was 91 mph upon impact with the SUV, with no braking prior to the crash, officials said.
The EDR data indicates Winningham steered the car off the roadway and toward the SUV before the crash, police officials said.
Mazda found
During their investigation, officers eventually found the Mazda in the 2800 block of Maricamp Road.
Two people, one of them a woman, were found. Officers said the woman denied she was behind the wheel at the time of the first crash. The second person, whose gender was not reported, did not say anything to police.
The woman is the car's registered owner. Jail records show she was charged with DUI and three counts of resisting an officer without violence. Because officers have not determined for certain who was driving, the Star-Banner is not releasing the name of the car's owner.
Investigation ongoing
Aside from trying to figure out who was driving the Mazda, officers want to know if Winningham's actions were intentional when he struck the pedestrian and then the officer.
The original story: Ocala Police Department officer seriously injured when struck by a fleeing car.
Once the report is finished it will be sent to the State Attorney's Office for its review.
Contact Austin L. Miller at austin.miller@starbanner.com
This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: The latest on the Aug. 26 crash that seriously injured an OPD officer
