A bulletproof vest saved the life of a Franklin County, Ky. deputy who was not shot, but was instead was nearly killed after his cruiser crashed Monday evening.
The wreck occurred as Deputy Ronald Lalumandier was responding to an emergency call, according to WLKY-TV.
The 29-year-old deputy was en route to a reported brawl involving five or six people when his patrol car left Evergreen Road.
As he rounded a curve, the backend of the cruiser became loose, possibly after hitting a patch of black ice, causing it to plow through a wooden plank fence, Franklin County Sheriff Pat Melton told the news station. One of the planks flew through the front windshield, hitting Lalumandier straight in the chest.
"He told me the first thing he thought was, 'I'm going to die,'" Melton said.
Luckily, the deputy was wearing his bulletproof vest loaded with extra trauma plates.
Melton said that a couple of inches over and plank would have likely hit the deputy in the neck or head.
Lalumandier was sore following the incident, but is already back on the job.
