A Florida Highway Patrol trooper is being hailed a hero after placing herself in harms way to potentially save others during an alleged drunk driving incident during Sunday's Skyway 10K.
What You Need To Know
- FHP troopers report that a driver was seen blowing through barricades during Sunday's Skyway 10K race
- To stop a potential catastrophe, trooper Toni Schuck said she put her Chevy Tahoe between the driver and racers
- The driver, later identified as Kristen Kay Watts, 52, was arrested and is accused of driving while intoxicated
Dash cam video shows the moments leading up to Trooper Toni Schuck using her SUV to block the driver from smashing through the race route.
Thursday morning, she spoke to the media about her experience leading up to that violent crash.
Schuck said she was positioned about a half a mile away from the start of the race when someone got on the radio, warning her about a driver seen blowing through the race barricades ahead of the bridge.
Schuck said it quickly became apparent that she had to do something before the driver made it onto the race route.
“Every day since it’s happened, I’ve thought about it," she said. "You go through the ‘what ifs,’ but I was the last officer — I knew that, I knew it was me.
"So, if it wasn’t me to get her to stop, then who? I don’t know. I don’t know."
Schuck credited her FHP Chevy Tahoe to saving her life.
She said it wasn’t until she was on her way to the hospital that morning that she realized what exactly it was that she had done.
“After I was put into the ambulance and we were going across the Skyway to the hospital, I got to, I don’t know what point in the bridge it was, but I saw people," Schuck said. "I saw people still there, and it really overwhelmed me.
"It was a situation where I knew there were people there and I’m thankful it was me. I’m thankful (the driver) didn’t get past me."
Schuck said she’s recovering at home, but did say what kind of injuries she suffered in the crash.
Meanwhile, the alleged driver has been identified as 52-year-old Kristen Kay Watts, of Sarasota.
According to Manatee County Sheriff's Office records, she is facing a number of charges, including DWI with serious bodily injury, damage to property while DUI and reckless driving.
According to a Florida Highway Patrol arrest report, Watts' blood alcohol level was recorded as .271 at the hospital, which is more than three times Florida's legal limit of .08. Troopers reported that six hours after the crash — once Watts was discharged from the hospital and arrested — her blood alcohol level was still .09.