Second deputy injured in crash

For the second time in roughly a month, a Monroe County Sheriff’s Office deputy has been injured in a vehicle accident while making a routine traffic stop in the Florida Keys.

Monroe County Sheriff’s Office Traffic Enforcement Deputy Andrew Leird, 49, was injured Tuesday, May 7, while on morning patrol in a school zone in Marathon, according to Sheriff’s Office spokesman Adam Linhardt.

Leird was attempting to make a traffic stop while on a Sheriff’s Office motorcycle, with his lights and siren activated, when another vehicle pulled in front of him at U.S. 1 and 27th Street in Marathon at approximately 8:41 a.m., Linhardt said.

Leird was airlifted via Trauma Star air ambulance helicopter to Jackson South Medical Center in Miami. His injuries did not appear to be life-threatening, Linhardt said.

Leird has been with the Sheriff’s Office since 1997.

“This is the second Sheriff’s Office deputy seriously injured in a traffic-related crash in less than two months,” said Sheriff Rick Ramsay. “Please slow down and drive safely. Remember that mistakes made on the road can have serious consequences.”

Last month, a deputy was struck by a suspected drunken driver while the deputy was engaged in a traffic stop on U.S. 1 near Mile Marker 87. The deputy underwent several surgeries at Jackson South Medical Center in Miami, according to the sheriff.

The 27-year-old deputy, who was not identified, was in the process of arresting a person on an outstanding warrant and was walking the suspect back to the patrol car when a car, driven by Alexandra Baraga, plowed into the back of the patrol car, “pinning” the deputy between patrol car and the car of the suspect being arrested, Ramsay said.

Baraga, 26, was traveling “full speed” when she collided into the back of the patrol car, Ramsay said.

The deputy’s patrol vehicle was on the side of the road with lights activated at the time of the crash, Ramsay said. The deputy was freed from being pinned between the cars and was taken by Trauma Star air ambulance to Jackson Medical Center South, where he underwent surgery and was in another emergency surgery the following morning, Ramsay said.

Baraga was taken to an area hospital where authorities collected a blood sample from her, which returned a blood alcohol level of .310, which is “four times the legal limit,” Ramsay said. The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating the crash.

Authorities arrested Baraga on one felony count of DUI and four misdemeanor counts of DUI, according to the sheriff. Baraga had recently moved to the Florida Keys from Minnesota, according to Ramsay.