Officer caught on video crashing into an 8-year-old riding dirt bike

An 8-year-old Florida boy was seriously injured after a Sarasota police officer crashed into him with his patrol car Monday, in an incident captured on surveillance video.

Gerard Butler, 8, had just received the minibike as an early birthday present the weekend before the crash. He started driving it home after being scared by police activity in his neighborhood, his mother, Regina Sanders, told CBS affiliate WTSP.

An officer in a patrol vehicle leaving the scene of another call struck the boy on Oct. 28 around 6:30 p.m., Sarasota Police Chief Rex Troche said at a news conference. The police station also shared the graphic body camera footage online.

In one video, the unnamed officer is seen turning left at an intersection, passing a stop sign without appearing to come to a complete stop before accelerating and hitting the child. The officer then exits his patrol car and Butler can be seen on the ground a long distance from the vehicle.

“The police, you just see them flying, going at least 60 miles, and they don’t care about the stop signs, they just fly through the roads,” Sanders told WTSP. “I was inside and I just heard something scraping and then you just see the little mini bike there.”

In the video, the officer calls for backup and emergency medical attention as a crowd of panicked neighbors forms. The police make several attempts at resuscitation in the meantime, but cannot find a defibrillator.

The child was taken to Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital and treated for serious injuries earlier release by the police. Sanders told WTSP earlier this week that her son had undergone two brain surgeries and a knee surgery and was scheduled to undergo jaw surgery.

In a Wednesday update from ABC affiliate WWSB, Sanders said her son has only been able to move his legs a little and cough since he was admitted to the hospital.

“I’ve never experienced anything like this,” Sanders said.

Police told WTSP that the officer involved was uninjured but shaken by the incident. He has a restrictive administrative duty while the investigation continues.

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