SANTA ROSA COUNTY

SHERIFF'S OFFICE

Sheriff Wendell Hall

Deputy Struck By Van During Traffic Stop

On 01/25/07 at approximately 0745 hours, a motorcycle officer with the Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office was backed over by a van following a traffic stop. The officer, Deputy Jerry Oaks, was conducting a traffic enforcement detail on Nichols Creek Road with two other motorcycle officers. Another officer participating in the detail had laser clocked a speeding motorist, Jennifer H. Stewart of Nichols Creek Road , traveling southbound at 55 MPH in a posted 25 MPH speed zone. Stewart was driving a white 2002 Mazda Van. Stewart was stopped by this officer and she pulled over on the south east side of the road. While one of the officers wrote Stewart the appropriate citation, Deputy Oaks and another officer continued to run laser speed enforcement on the southbound lane of traffic. Once Stewart signed her citation and was free to leave, she backed across the road and struck Oaks who was facing opposite of her vehicle on the west side of the road. Deputy Oaks was knocked to the ground by the van and experienced leg and ankle pain from the collision. Deputy Oaks went to the Santa Rosa Medical Center Emergency Room for x-rays. Oaks received a clean bill of health and suffered only from a bruised ankle. The Florida Highway Patrol arrived to investigate the accident. Stewart was cited for careless driving by the Highway Patrol.

Press Release By:

Sgt. Scott Haines

Public Information Officer

Media Relations

850-981-2136

850-698-4441