A Florida sheriff’s deputy is under investigation after being accused of hitting a pet dog in a hit-and-run. A good Samaritan caught the whole thing on video, according to a Fox 35 Orlando report. Now, the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office is looking into exactly what happened.
WFTV 9 says that Sheriff Wayne Ivy has opened an investigation and filed a complaint about the incident that left a beloved pet with multiple injuries, including what an onlooker said appeared to be a broken leg. Now, Sheriff Ivy says the department will cover the pup’s medical bills while they search for his family.
The good news is that the dog is expected to make a full recovery. However, there’s no update on when he may get to go home… or what they will do if they can’t figure out exactly where home is.
Trigger warning: This article contains details and footage from the accident.
A Man Tried to Rescue the Dog Before He Was Hit
Fox 35 Orlando reporters were on the scene after the dog was hit in Port St. John, describing how a man named Chris Edinger was driving down Gulf View Road late Sunday night when he spotted a dog running alongside the busy road.
Edinger pulled over and planned to grab the dog before he got hurt, but said that the pup darted into traffic, where he was hit by a car. Sadly, Edinger says the car didn’t stop after striking the dog, who was in very bad shape after being struck.
Video Footage Shows the Aftermath of the Hit-And-Run
After seeing how badly the dog was hurt, Edinger pulled out his phone and started filming. According to a video interview shared with Fox 35 Orlando, the dog originally appeared to have at least one broken leg. He was also bleeding from his head and his mouth.
“It just didn’t look good at all,” Edinger said. He called 911, and Brevard County officers responded to the scene. After the dog was safe, he says he went over to his truck to look at the dash cam footage to see if he could figure out what happened.
That’s when he saw the car that hit the dog belonged to the sheriff’s department.
Edinger Shared the Footage to Facebook
The car’s camera caught the incident, showing how the car slowed slightly after the impact signaling that they driver knew it had hit something.
“Whatever officer this is your a real piece of s–t for not stopping after hitting this dog who was still alive and left in the road to be hit by another car, if I knew you were a officer I would have told the ones who showed up to help, you for sure have front end damage on the passenger front of your patrol car,” an upset Edinger captioned the video he shared to Facebook.
The Dog Should Make a Full Recovery
Sheriff Ivy addressed the hit-and-run in a video posted to the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office’s Facebook account. Calling the incident “disturbing,” the sheriff said that he had authorized an internal investigation, and that the sheriff’s department will pay “any of the vet bills” through the department’s “Pet Posse.”
He also said that the dog was doing well before telling the citizens of Brevard that he would keep them in the loop when the investigation was over, signaling his intention to discipline the deputy if it was warranted. “You know me. If there is anything I can take action on, I will,” he said in the address.
Hopefully, the dog continues to do well, and he can be reunited with his family as soon as possible.