Florida Deputy Ran Over Young Woman Lying on Beach in Middle of Afternoon

A 23-year-old woman was allegedly run over by an on-duty police officer while lying on the beach in St. Pete Beach, Florida.

On Wednesday, at approximately 1:08 p.m., Pinellas County deputies responded to a report of a vehicle-versus-pedestrian crash on the beach.

According to police, Deputy Todd Brien, 58, was on beach patrol in his marked 2017 Chevrolet Tahoe. While speaking to beachgoers, Brien received a call from dispatch asking him to a 911 hang-up at another location.

"Deputy Brien made a right turn from his parked position, when he struck 23-year-old Robin Diffenderfer while she was lying on her back in the sand," police said in a press release.

The front driver side tire of Brien's vehicle drove over the woman's mid to upper back area and right side. She was transported to the hospital and sustained non-life-threatening injuries, according to investigators.

Brien did not sustain any injuries. Police are continuing to investigate the incident.

Newsweek reached out to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office who directed to the press release.

This isn't the first time Pinellas County has been in the news for an officer hitting a pedestrian on the beach. In May 2020, an officer accidentally ran over a man's hip while he was lying in the sand.

Officer Natasha Hindman, 27, was driving a marked police vehicle at a slow speed on the beach at approximately 6 p.m. when the vehicle's left tires ran over the man's hip.

The 66-year-old man was transported to the hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

Florida is currently seeing a rise in pedestrian-vehicle crashes, particularly in the southwest part of the state. According to the Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicle, more than 3,000 pedestrians have been hit by cars since January 2022.

But the issue has also proved to be a national concern, with new analysis from the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) projecting that drivers struck and killed 3,441 pedestrians in the first six months of 2021.

GHSA also found that California, Texas, and Florida accounted for 37 percent of all pedestrian deaths in that period, although only about 27 percent of the U.S. population resides there.

This is because these states have warmer climates, which increase outdoor activity and traveling by foot.

In June 2021, a 42-year-old Ohio man died after being run over by police responding to his 911 call. Earlier, the man, who had been shot, was lying in the middle of the road and told dispatchers that police hit him with their vehicle.

And in November of that same year, an off-duty police officer from New Jersey was accused of fatally hitting a pedestrian and taking the body to his mother's house to ask for advice.

The 25-year-old officer was arrested and was charged with reckless vehicular homicide; desecrating/moving human remains; leaving the scene of a crash resulting in death; endangering an injured victim; hindering one's own apprehension; conspiracy to hinder prosecution; tampering with physical evidence; obstruction the administration of law; and two counts of official misconduct, according to the press release.