{"id":1655134,"date":"2025-12-29T08:15:16","date_gmt":"2025-12-29T13:15:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wsvn.com\/?p=1655134"},"modified":"2025-12-29T12:19:21","modified_gmt":"2025-12-29T17:19:21","slug":"driver-accused-of-hitting-mdso-deputy-at-turnpike-crash-scene-faces-felony-charge-deputy-stable-after-surgery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wsvn.com\/news\/local\/miami-dade\/driver-accused-of-hitting-mdso-deputy-at-turnpike-crash-scene-faces-felony-charge-deputy-stable-after-surgery\/","title":{"rendered":"Driver accused of hitting MDSO deputy at Turnpike crash scene faces felony charge; deputy stable after surgery"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A driver is facing a felony charge after he was arrested for hitting a deputy on the Florida Turnpike<\/a> as he drove around the scene of a crash, officials said. The injured deputy is currently in stable condition after undergoing surgery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to investigators, Lonnel Brinson did not slow down past the Florida Highway Patrol and Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office vehicles near Northwest 58th Street on the Turnpike, Saturday morning. The suspect, 28, swerved as he tried to avoid the crash and struck MDSO Deputy Leonard Cantave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Authorities said Cantave was on his way to work on Saturday when he heard a dispatch call about a crash and stopped to help troopers at the scene. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is when, officials said, Brinson struck the deputy. Deputies said the suspect stayed at the scene of the crash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cantave, a 20-year law enforcement veteran, was airlifted to HCA Florida Kendall Hospital, where he underwent surgery. Officials later confirmed he was recovering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We’re just hoping and praying that he can see his way through this situation,” Miami-Dade Sheriff\u2019s Office Assistant Sheriff Eric Garcia said at a press conference following the accident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to his arrest report, Brinson had admitted to consuming alcohol and marijuana before the crash. He had also been driving with a suspended license.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brinson was taken to jail and charged with one count of felony reckless driving causing serious injury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back at the scene of the crash, Florida Highway Patrol assisted with traffic control as the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office investigated. All lanes of the Turnpike were reopened later in the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Authorities urge drivers to slow down and move over when approaching emergency scenes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe cannot stress enough how important it is to our motorists, when they\u2019re driving, and they\u2019re approaching a traffic scene, to slow down and to move over, in order to prevent these types of incidents,\u201d Garcia said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Our deputy is currently still in ICU, but in stable condition. He has a very long recovery, but we are very grateful that that is what we’re talking about: a recovery,” Miami-Dade Sheriff Rosie Cordero Stutz said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brinson bonded out of jail on Sunday and is expected back in court in February. Cantave remains in stable condition as of Monday morning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A driver is facing a felony charge after he was arrested for hitting a deputy on the Florida Turnpike as he drove around the sceneRead More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":188962060,"featured_media":1655200,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"2025-12-29T13:15:24Z","apple_news_api_id":"3ac305d4-b2b1-4ef5-978b-6ac31717266e","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2025-12-29T17:19:21Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACA==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AOsMF1LKxTvWXi2rDFxcmbg","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_speedyseo_primary_category":"","_sunbeam_story_id":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1566],"tags":[1415],"coauthors":[646697835,646697605],"class_list":["post-1655134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-miami-dade","tag-video","sunbeam-copyright-default","sunbeam-location-southwest-miami-dade-fla-wsvn"],"apple_news_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/wsvn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/12\/Screenshot-2025-12-29-102637.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wsvn.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1655134","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wsvn.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wsvn.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wsvn.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/188962060"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wsvn.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1655134"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/wsvn.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1655134\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1655242,"href":"https:\/\/wsvn.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1655134\/revisions\/1655242"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wsvn.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1655200"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wsvn.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1655134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wsvn.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1655134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wsvn.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1655134"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wsvn.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=1655134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}