The 79-year-old driver of a Cadillac Escalade that careened out-of-control, killing a Polk County Sheriff’s Office Sergeant on Sunday, has told deputies that he blacked out just before he lost control of his vehicle. Sergeant Wes Whitmore died from injuries from his own patrol car, after it was struck by the runaway Cadillac.
Sgt. Wes Whitmore, 60, was conducting a traffic stop on a vehicle which had an expired tag that he noticed while driving southbound on Spirit Lake Road just before 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, December 12th. Sgt. Whitmore followed the car into the 7-11 convenience store parking lot, located at the intersection of Spirit Lake Road and Recker Hwy, and had just exited his patrol car with his ticket book in hand when an out-of-control Cadillac Escalade careened into him.
Prior to striking Sgt. Whitmore’s patrol car, the SUV first struck Wanda Perez, of Wanda’s Collectibles, swiped the corner of her business, and then crashed into the rear passenger quarter panel of Sgt. Whitmore’s patrol car. The collision caused the patrol car to crash into Sgt. Whitmore, fatally injuring him.
Leo John Saunders, 79, of Winter Haven and the driver of the Cadillac told deputies that he blacked out just before his car careened out of control, reports theledger.com.
Witnesses immediately came to Sgt. Whitmore’s aid, but he later succumbed to his injuries at the Winter Haven Hospital.
Saunders and Perez, who was also struck, suffered minor injuries.
Sgt. Whitmore retired as a Major from the United States Air Force after 26 years of service, before joining Polk County Sheriff’s Office in 1995.
The crash remains under investigation.
