A Lake County deputy who was struck by a car on Grays Airport Road early Wednesday morning after attempting to push another man out of the path of the oncoming vehicle is in stable condition and recovering at Orlando Regional Medical Center.
Dep. Austin Pringle, 27, who was on his way from his shift just before daybreak, had stopped to investigate an attempted car burglary. He was standing on the northbound lane next to his patrol car speaking with 22-year-old Cerontae Hodge, of Leesburg, when both were struck by a 2013 Camaro driven by 53-year-old Kim Johnson of Lady Lake, a Florida Highway Patrol report states.
Johnson, who wasn’t injured, said she saw the headlights of Pringle’s patrol vehicle and slowed down, but she didn’t know it was a law enforcement officer’s car, the report says.
Pringle, of Sorrento, stopped on Grays Airport Road after hearing that the suspects in the attempted burglary had fled on foot. He noticed Hodge walking along the roadway and stopped to speak with him shortly before 6:15 a.m.
Pringle sustained a head injury and was flown to ORMC shortly after the incident. Hodge, who said Pringle tried to push him out of the path of the oncoming Camaro, suffered a minor injury to his leg and was transported to Leesburg Regional Medical Center.
Lake County Sheriff’s Lt. John Herrell said he and his fellow deputies are thankful that Pringle, who suffered a possible concussion, is expected to make a full recovery.
“He’s really banged up but he’s in stable condition and doing well,” Herrell said of Pringle, who has been with the Lake County Sheriff’s Office since November 2016 and is assigned to the patrol division. “Thank God for that, because this was a very scary situation.”
