Times staff
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
TAMPA — A collision trapped a seriously injured Hillsborough County sheriff's deputy inside a cruiser Wednesday afternoon, authorities said.
The cruiser was turning left about 5:45 p.m. into the Sheriff's Office District 2 station parking lot on Falkenburg and Windhorst roads when a Ford Taurus crashed into its passenger side, authorities said.
Deputy Michael Hannaford, 30, was in the passenger seat during the crash and was trapped inside, the Sheriff's Office said.
Rescue workers cut him out of the car and he was taken to Tampa General Hospital in serious condition.
The cruiser's driver, Deputy Christopher Maffei, 28, was also taken to Tampa General with minor injuries.
Hannaford has been with the agency for nine years and Maffei has been there for four.
Officials are investigating the cause of the crash and have not determined who was at fault, the Sheriff's Office said.
The other driver, Teresa Tymes, 32, of Tampa, was not injured.
In another crash earlier this week, Deputy Juan Lazu, 47, was driving on routine patrol along Bearss Avenue when he was struck nearly head-on by a driver authorities said was drunk and headed the wrong way.
Lazu became pinned inside his car. Moments after other deputies freed him, the Sheriff's Office said, his cruiser burst into flames.