Bodycam: Fla. Police Officer Run over by Trailer During Traffic Stop

Body camera footage captured a scary incident as a Florida police officer was seriously injured when he was run over by a trailer during a traffic stop last week.

The incident happened shortly before 3 a.m. May 1 when Belle Isle Police Officer Zachary Mathews pulled over a vehicle towing a trailer without working lights, the department stated in a social media post. During the stop, Matthews and another officer smelled marijuana coming from the vehicle, and they asked the driver to exit the vehicle.

The man would not comply with commands and began searching for something inside the vehicle. A struggle ensued as the officers tried to pull the man from the vehicle.

Matthews was knocked to the ground by the driver during the struggle. That's when the vehicle began rolling forward, and the trailer ran over Matthews.

The driver was finally subdued and arrested. A gun was found inside the vehicle, and the driver faces felony drug charges. 

Matthews was rushed to the hospital in stable condition. Matthews told WESH-TV that he had initially lost some feeling in his right leg, and he was worried that he was partially paralyzed.

While that wasn't the case, he still was significantly injured and will need to rehab in the coming months. Matthews, who hopes to return to light duty in the next month, credits his body armor vest as preventing more serious injuries.

“For what happened, everything could be a lot worse, and I'm thankful that it wasn't.
In a lot of pain right now, but on track to make a full recovery,” he said.