A Florida family is still searching for answers after an 8-year-old boy riding his dirt bike was hit by a police officer driving his patrol car. The boy was riding his bike in his neighborhood, when police activity in the area made him nervous, so he headed home. It was during that trip home that the police officer, who didn’t fully stop at the stop sign, hit him with his patrol car.
In the bodycam footage, you can see the moment of impact, which sent the young boy off his bike. Family members quickly attend to him, with someone attempting CPR to keep the boy alive. The investigation into the crash is ongoing.
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The bodycam footage was recently released.
The Sarasota Police Department released the bodycam footage showing the moments before and after the officer hit the young boy, Gerard Butler, who was riding his dirt bike. In the video, the unnamed officer appears to turn left at an intersection, passing a stop sign without appearing to make a complete stop, before accelerating and hitting the boy.
WTSP reported that according to police, the officer was coming from another call at the time of the crash.
There were multiple witnesses at the scene.
“The cops you just see them flying at least hitting 60 miles and they don’t care about the stop signs just flying through the roads,” the boy’s mother, Regina Sanders, told WTSP. “I was inside and I just heard something scraping and then you just see the little minibike on there.”
In the footage, you can see the officer, along with multiple witnesses, rush to Butler’s side. “Oh, f—!” the officer says when he realizes what he did. “You just hit my f—ing nephew!” a man yells in the background as Butler lays motionless in the street.
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The boy was taken to Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital.
Sanders explained that her son so far has undergone two brain surgeries, a knee surgery, and has jaw surgery scheduled. Butler had received the bike as an early birthday present. The boy was riding home after police activity in the neighborhood had scared him.
“The cops teach us not to speed in residential areas. They have speed limits on the side of the roads for a reason. Whether he had a call or not, you had no business going that fast,” she said.
There has been an update on the boy's condition.
Sanders spoke with WWSB on October 31, several days after the incident, saying, “I’ve never been through anything like this before.”
She told the outlet that Butler has moved his legs slightly and coughed since being in the hospital. He has not improved in any other way since being in the hospital. It looks like he will have a long road to recovery ahead of him.
“I’m just trying to be strong for my two other kids at home,” she said.
The investigation is still ongoing.
According to the police department, the officer was not injured, but the incident has shaken him up. He is currently on restrictive administrative duty while the investigation continues.
“Our thoughts remain with the 8-year-old child and his family as he continues to receive care for serious injuries following last night’s tragic accident,” the police said in a statement shared by WTSP.
