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Patrol vehicle runs over 2 women on Florida beach; sergeant cited for careless driving
A sergeant could face disciplinary action after striking two young women with a patrol car at Daytona Beach on Memorial Day, officials said. The sergeant, whose name has not been released, already received a citation for careless driving in the wake of the incident.
Both 18 years old, the women were sunbathing on the sand near Daytona’s strip of coastal hotels on Monday afternoon when the patrol car ran them over, said Tamra Malphurs, the interim director of Volusia County Beach Safety Ocean Rescue, in a statement. The sergeant is employed by that safety agency. Malphurs characterized the collision as an accident. It happened at around 2:30 p.m. local time.
The women, who had traveled to Daytona Beach from Kissimmee, were transported to a hospital after being hit by the sergeant’s vehicle. Details about the nature of their injuries were not immediately available although Malphurs said each of their conditions was stable as of Wednesday morning.
In addition to the reckless driving citation, Malphurs said the sergeant may be disciplined further once Volusia County Beach Safety Ocean Rescue has “reviewed all the facts.” The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office investigated the incident.
Sunbathers have been hit by government-operated or publicly-owned vehicles — including some driven by lifeguards, police and other public safety officers — at major tourist beaches before, in Florida and elsewhere in the United States. The Florida-based personal injury law firm McQuaid & Douglas said it has become a problematic pattern in various parts of the state that appears to be happening more frequently now than ever, with at least 20 accounts of beach patrol cars running over sunbathers in recent years, according to the firm. Three sunbathers were struck by police cruisers on Pinellas Beach, near St. Petersburg, along Florida’s Gulf Coast, in the last two years alone, the attorneys said.
Paul Hennessy/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
The issue initially raised concerns about whether vehicles should drive on beaches at all in Volusia County in 2010, after two 4-year-old children were hit and killed. A handful of similar incidents drew national attention over the decade or so since, many of which happened in California. In 2019, a 30-year-old woman suffered minor or moderate injuries after being hit by a Los Angeles Police Department patrol cruiser on Venice Beach, CBS Los Angeles reported. Police were patrolling a sandy stretch of the beach in an SUV when they turned the car and ran over the woman, who was sunbathing.
Another woman suffered more severe injuries when a lifeguard, driving a Los Angeles County-owned vehicle, hit her on Venice Beach. At the time, CBS Los Angeles reported that the 25-year-old was hospitalized with fractures and internal injuries. Earlier that year, a sanitation truck ran over a woman who was lying face down in the sand on the same beach. That woman was 49 and hospitalized with serious injuries.
Also in 2013, city officials in San Francisco proposed a $15 million settlement for the family of Christine Svanemyr, a woman killed by a maintenance vehicle that ran her over while she was lying with her 11-month-old child in a park in the Bernal Heights neighborhood. The man who hit her, a San Francisco Parks employee, was charged with manslaughter in the hit-and-run, CBS San Francisco reported. Svanemyr’s husband wrote in a Medium post several years later that the employee ultimately received community service as a penalty and spent four days in jail.
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A picture is emerging of the suspect who officials say pointed a high-powered rifle at former president Donald Trump on a Florida golf course Sunday afternoon.
Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, was armed with an AK-47-style rifle and was 300-500 yards away from Trump when members of the former president’s Secret Service detail spotted him, according to Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw. Routh was a few holes ahead of where the president was golfing at the Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach, officials said.
Members of the Secret Service detail opened fire at Routh, according to law enforcement officials. It’s not clear if Routh fired any shots. Bradshaw said a witness saw a man jumping out of the bushes and fleeing in a black Nissan. The car was pulled over and the driver detained and identified as the suspect. Law enforcement found the rifle, a scope, two backpacks with ceramic tile and a GoPro camera in the bushes at the scene.
The FBI and U.S. Secret Service are investigating the incident, which the FBI said “appears to be an attempted assassination of former President Trump.”
As the investigation continues, here’s what we know about Routh:
Stephany Matat / AP
A decades-long criminal history
Routh’s most recent address is listed in Hawaii, but he spent most of his life in North Carolina, according to property records. Routh owned Camp Box Honolulu, a shed-building company, according to his LinkedIn profile. The account also says that he studied at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University and graduated in 1998.
Records show his problems with the law go back to the 1990s and include less serious charges, like writing bad checks. But in 2002, he was charged with a felony — possession of a weapon of mass destruction — according to North Carolina Department of Corrections records.
Between 2002 and 2010, Routh was also charged with a number of misdemeanors, including a hit-and-run accident, resisting arrest and a concealed weapons violation, records show.
Suspect criticized Trump online
Routh voted Democratic in the 2024 primary election in North Carolina, and he voted in person, according to the North Carolina State Board of Elections. He appears to be registered as an unaffiliated voter.
His X account, which has now been suspended, included a number of posts about Trump.
“@realDonaldTrump While you were my choice in 2106, I and the world hoped that president Trump would be different and better than the candidate, but we all were greatly disappointment and it seems you are getting worse and devolving,” he wrote in a June 2020 post. “I will be glad when you gone.”
He also referenced the July 13 assassination attempt on Trump in multiple posts, suggesting that President Biden and Vice President Harris should visit the injured and attend the funeral of the Pennsylvania rally-goer who was killed.
A Facebook account under Routh’s name was no longer online on Sunday evening.
Ukraine supporter
Routh was passionate about fighting for Ukraine, even traveling overseas to fight in the country’s war against Russia in 2022.
“I am coming to Ukraine from Hawaii to fight for your kids and families and democracy.. I will come and die for you,” he wrote on X.
In one post on LinkedIn, he shared a photo of himself in Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital.
A CBS News review of Routh’s social media shows his pro-Ukraine views seeped into his public statements as well. He urged people, even those who didn’t have military skills, to take up arms for Ukraine. He was interviewed by several news organizations, including The New York Times and Semafor in 2023, and Newsweek Romania in 2022. He was quoted about his efforts to recruit volunteer fighters to aid Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s invasion, though it wasn’t clear whether he had succeeded.
“This is about good versus evil,” he told Newsweek Romania.
contributed to this report.
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