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    • 2 PBSO deputies dead, one in critical condition after Loxahatchee crash
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    2 PBSO deputies dead, one in critical condition after Loxahatchee crash

    Online Niel Posted on

    Deputies were dealing with a PBSO motorcycle that wouldn’t start when an SUV veered into them, Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said.

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    (This story has been updated with new information.)

    WELLINGTON – Describing it as a “horrific accident,” Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said two deputies died and a third was seriously injured in a car accident near Loxahatchee Thursday morning.

    Speaking via a remote video feed from North Carolina, Bradshaw said deputies were conducting traffic control for eastbound vehicles on Southern Boulevard between Seminole Pratt Whitney Road when a mechanical issue caused a deputy’s motorcycle to stall. The deputy then called his two colleagues to help move the bike to a grassy area on the side of the road.

    Deputies were waiting for a fourth deputy to bring in jumper cables when a woman driving east along Southern swerved to avoid colliding with a car in front of her, which had begun to slow down.

    The woman hit all three deputies with her SUV, Bradshaw said. The collision caused each deputy to become airborne, thrown in different directions.

    The Florida Highway Patrol will lead the investigation, said FHP spokesman Lt. Indiana Miranda. Miranda said FHP investigators were still working to gather information Thursday afternoon.

    PBSO identified the deputies who died as Cpl. Luis Paez, a 36-year veteran of the agency, and Deputy Ralph “Butch” Waller, a former Royal Palm Beach police officer who joined PBSO when the village police department merged with the sheriff’s office in 2008.

    Deputy Ignacio “Dan” Diaz, a 20-year veteran of the PBSO and a member of the motor unit for 10 years, remained in critical condition Thursday night, sheriff’s spokeswoman Teri Barbera said.

    Paez began his career with PBSO as a corrections deputy before moving to the highway patrol and later the motor unit, where he served for more than 20 years.

    PBSO has not identified the driver of the SUV, who Bradshaw said suffered minor injuries. The Florida Highway Patrol, which is leading the investigation, identified the driver as a 31-year-old woman from Pennsylvania. The crash happened shortly before 9:30 a.m., the agency said.

    More: 7 deputies in the history of PBSO died after being hit by a car: What happened to the first 5

    “I tell people all the time, law enforcement, public safety and the military are the only professions, when you walk out of the house and kiss your family goodbye, that could be the last time,” said Bradshaw, who appeared emotional during the conference presser. . “When a deputy dies, part of the community dies with them. It’s hard.”

    Palm Beach County Firefighters took all three deputies to St. John’s Medical Center. Mary’s in West Palm Beach, a Level 1 trauma center. Diaz underwent surgery and was being treated in the hospital’s intensive care unit as of Thursday afternoon.

    “I hope he makes it,” Bradshaw said.

    The southbound speed limit in that area is 55 mph, Bradshaw said. The damage is consistent with a vehicle traveling at that speed, but investigators will determine how fast the woman was traveling.

    The crash closed Southern Boulevard, the county’s main east-west highway, to two-way traffic for several hours while deputies investigated the crash scene.

    A procession for the fallen deputies began around 2 p.m. and was led by a motorcycle escort of law enforcement vehicles as the bodies of the deputies were taken from St. Mary’s to the Palm Beach County Medical Examiner’s Office suburb of West Palm Beach.

    Members of the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, West Palm Beach Police Department, Palm Beach County Fire Department, Florida Highway Patrol and several other law enforcement agencies were included in the procession. Local sheriff’s agencies, including the Martin County Sheriff’s Office, posted tributes online, along with state politicians, including U.S. Sen. Rick Scott.

    The fatal crash came nearly 17 years to the day that Sheriff’s Deputies Jonathan Wallace and Donta Manuel died while trying to stop a speeding driver in The Glades.

    On November 28, 2007, several deputies were chasing a suspected car thief on State Road 715 near the Pahokee Airport when Wallace and Manuel deployed “stop stick” tire deflation devices designed to slow down or stop a motorist.

    They are among five deputies in PBSO history who have been struck and killed by vehicles while on duty.

    The others were:

    • Richard Landes, in April 1981, was struck while helping pull a car out of a ditch.
    • Kevin Matthews, in March 1992, was hit by a limousine while riding in a competition escorting a presidential candidate.
    • Anita Pospisil, just weeks after Matthews, when her patrol car was rear-ended by a truck that ran a red light.

    Writer Holly Baltz contributed to this story.

    Julius Whigham II is a criminal justice and public safety reporter for The Palm Beach Post. You can contact him at [email protected] and follow him on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, at @JuliusWhigham. Help support our work: Subscribe today.

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