A Florida state trooper says her vehicle was the last obstacle when an allegedly drunk driver broke through barricades of the Skyway 10k race on Sunday.
“Where I was positioned is probably about a half a mile from the starting point,” shared trooper Toni Schuck. “And so in my mind, I’m thinking, she’s going to stop.”
Dash-cam video shows Schuck positioning her car in the middle of the road and blocking the path. The trooper expected the driver to stop, but they did not; it all ended in a head-on collision.
“It’s hard because I’ve done this for 26 years and I’ve never been in this position,” shared Schuck. “I’ve never been in this position where I’ve had to put myself [in harm’s way] for somebody else.”
The video shows the mangled cars after the wreck. Schuck has thought about the collision every day since.
“It really overwhelmed me,” shared Schuck. “It was just a situation where I knew there were people there and I’m just thankful it was me.”
It was later determined that the driver, Kristen Watts, 52. She was arrested.
Schuck has been hailed a hero.
“I feel that what I did I had to do, I didn’t want to do it, but I had to do it,” she said.
