Cook deputy hit by RV recovering

Dec. 1—ADEL, Ga. — A Cook County deputy who was seriously injured when an RV hit him is on the road to recovery, the sheriff's office said.

Tim Bruner, a Cook County deputy who lives in Tifton, was injured in an accident on I-75 Sunday, Nov. 29, said Brent Exum with the Cook County Sheriff's Office.

Bruner had worked for the sheriff's office for two months when the accident took place but had been in law enforcement for 25 years, Exum said.

Bruner had surgery Monday for fractures to a shoulder and his left arm and for suturing numerous lacerations, Exum said.

"He has been moved from the ICU to the step-down unit at Tallahassee Memorial and is still being evaluated for numerous broken ribs that are affecting his breathing," Exum said. "He is awake, alert and in good spirits."

Around 3:54 p.m. Nov. 29, Bruner was performing a traffic stop at the 37 mile marker of I-75 when he was hit, a Cook County Sheriff's Office statement said.

He was standing on the driver's side of the stopped vehicle when an RV went onto the shoulder of the road, striking him, the patrol car and the car he had stopped, a statement from the Georgia State Patrol said.

The RV had been sideswiped by another vehicle in an adjacent lane and forced off the road, hitting Bruner, the sheriff's office said.

Police departments from Adel, Sparks, Cecil and Hahira responded, as did Cook County and Adel fire departments, the state patrol, the Georgia Department of Transportation and Grady EMS, the sheriff's office said.

Bruner was airlifted to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital, where he remains.

The GSP's Troop H Specialized Collision Reconstruction Team is investigating.

Terry Richards is the senior reporter for The Valdosta Daily Times.