Deputy hits deer at 80 mph

One of three officers speeding from a manhunt near Ramona to a non-violent domestic dispute in Hillsboro suffered minor injuries when he hit a deer with his squad car while traveling 80 mph Friday on Quail Creek Rd. north of 330th Rd.

Deputies David Harper-Head and Bronson Shipman and Hillsboro officer Gary Slater had been searching for more than an hour for a suspect who had fled from a Lost Springs residence, according to radio transmissions monitored by the newspaper.

Harper-Head had summoned Slater, who also has worked as a sheriff’s deputy as well as a Hillsboro officer, to assist with the manhunt.

All three were within a few miles of Ramona when a call came in about a non-violent domestic dispute involving a reportedly drunken man 27 miles away in Hillsboro.

The officer and deputies abandoned their manhunt and headed to Hillsboro, where Slater, who had cleared his departure with police chief Dan Kinning, had been the only officer on patrol.

Just a minute later, at 9:12 p.m., Harper-Head reported that he was involved in an accident.

Tampa ambulance, a helicopter ambulance, Lincolnville firefighters, and Marion rescue squad were called, but first responders from Lincolnville, arriving first via private vehicle, canceled the rescue squad and helicopter.

Meanwhile, off-duty Hillsboro officer John Huebert handled the Hillsboro domestic dispute, and a part-time Peabody officer volunteered to respond to any sheriff’s calls while Slater and Shipman located and remained at the scene until Harper-Head was taken to St. Luke Hospital.

Highway Patrol trooper K.D. Baldwin was summoned to investigate the accident.

Baldwin said Monday that he found nothing unusual about the accident.

“It was probably like any car here,” he said. “They hit it with the front of the vehicle, and it pretty much crunched up.”

The 2017 Ford Explorer sustained extensive damage to its front end and had to be towed.

No citations were issued, and no estimate has been made on the damage to the vehicle.

Harper-Head was released from St. Luke with only stiffness, according to Sheriff Rob Craft, who confirmed that Harper-Head was traveling approximately 80 mph when the accident occurred.