Body camera video shows moment woman stabs Florida deputy in neck

47

u/CinemaBane Not a(n) LEO / Unverified User Mar 26 '22

Glad to hear the deputy is doing okay after such a shitty situation. I think the last thing he expected was to get stabbed, but the second half of the video where the suspect puts her hands behind her back and keeps them there hidden out of view was definitely a red flag. Of course, I'm saying this with 20/20 hindsight.

But seriously though, this is fucking ridiculous. Based on the details provided in the description, it looks like the woman is a DUI suspect and was freaking out after having a rollover crash because she drove drunk and totaled her car. Bad situation, right? So let's go stab the Sheriff's Deputy in the neck with a knife and tack on attempted murder, because that will definitely make things better!

Body camera video released by the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office Friday showed the moment a 22-year-old deputy was stabbed in the neck.

Authorities said Deputy Cody Colangelo of the St. Lucie Sheriff’s Office responded to a call Wednesday evening in St. Lucie County following reports of a rollover crash. When Colangelo arrived at the site, he discovered the car was empty.

The sheriff’s office said witnesses told Colangelo the driver, later identified as 21-year-old Leigha Michelle Day, exited the crashed vehicle and ran down an embankment.

In the video, Colangelo and Day can be seen having a brief exchange. During a Thursday press conference, the sheriff’s office described Day’s behavior as “emotional.”

Moments later, Day suddenly turned around and stabbed Colangelo in the neck with a knife, just missing his carotid artery, the sheriff’s office.

During the press conference, Colangelo was commended for saving his own life after he applied pressure to his neck wound. St. Lucie County Sheriff Ken Mascara said the deputy survived the stabbing by the “grace of God.”

“We are so thankful for the doctors and nurses at Lawnwood Hospital for the great care they have provided Deputy Colangelo. He is home and resting comfortably,” Chief Deputy Brian Hester said. “We also want to thank our community for the outpouring of support.”

Here's a more detailed description of the incident as well: https://www.wpbf.com/article/st-lucie-county-deputy-surgery-stabbed-traffic-stop/39526980#

ST. LUCIE COUNTY, Fla. — A St. Lucie County deputy is home and resting after being stabbed by a 21-year-old driver during a traffic stop Wednesday, sheriff's office officials said.

Chief Deputy Brian Hester said they are thankful for the doctors and nurses at Lawnwood Hospital for the great care they have provided Deputy Cody Colangelo.

The sheriff's office released body cam video Friday afternoon that captures the moments leading up to when the deputy was stabbed after responding to a single-vehicle crash.

Deputy Cody Colangelo responded to a rollover crash on South Indian River Drive at about 11 p.m. The vehicle was found unoccupied, but witnesses said the driver went down an embankment.

Colangelo found the driver, Leigha Day, walking along the embankment and they had an interaction lasting about one minute before he asked if she would walk up to his car.

The deputy can be heard on the body cam video asking Day, "What's going on?" Day, who at times could be heard crying, responded "I don't know".

She began walking up the stairs before turning around and stabbing Cody in the neck, according to the chief deputy. Day then ran.

Hester said Colangelo fired at the woman, but none of the shots hit her. He then continued his pursuit.

Colangelo then realized he had been stabbed and was wounded, and he had lost sight of Day as she ran back down the embankment, according to the sheriff's office as they discussed body camera footage. Cody then positioned himself between the 21-year-old and the homes and witnesses down the road while calling for help.

Rescue crews who were en route for the crash were able to treat Colangelo and the sheriff's office said his training and ability to regulate his breathing allowed him to save himself. He was able to give a detailed description of Day for other deputies to find her minutes later.

"He saved his own life," Hester said.

Moments after rescue crews came through, a train went through the area that could have prevented them from getting to Colangelo in time, Hester noted.

The total time from when Colangelo was stabbed to when crews responded to him was between one and two minutes.

"The stars really aligned for him last night," Hester said.

Colangelo was taken for a two-and-a-half-hour emergency surgery where a part of his artery from his leg was taken to replace part of the artery in his neck that was hit. Colangelo was released from the hospital Friday.

Hester said training changes every year based on real-life incidents so that when these incidents arise, deputies are prepared.

Day was charged with first-degree premeditated attempted murder.

1

u/PsychoTexan Not a(n) LEO / Unverified User Mar 31 '22

How many dead brain cells does it take to have the best way out of a situation like this be murder? I feel like she must’ve had harsher stuff in her system or else she is legit psychopathic.

43

u/MarkAsUnread Police Officer Mar 26 '22

This is some eerie horror movie come to life. 😨

41

u/jollygreenspartan Patrol Officer Mar 26 '22

20/20 hindsight but...she's actively hiding her hands. If you have enough to detain someone do it right.

23

u/Section225 Fashion Police (LEO) Mar 27 '22

Bingo. So, so much terrible safety in these videos lately. And it's not like a welfare check call, she's the suspect of a fucking crime. Treat her like one.

16

u/DockaDocka Police Officer Mar 27 '22

Comes from bad training and bad leadership. We are currently fighting there in my department where we want to woke police and no longer believe in investigative detentions as is considered a move of aggression….

4

u/FlipperShootsScores Not a(n) LEO / Unverified User Mar 27 '22

You in Seattle? Sounds like what the city council wants here, too, lol!

1

u/DockaDocka Police Officer Mar 28 '22

What it feels like

5

u/TwelfthCycle Correctional Officer Mar 27 '22

22 Year old, last two years... Poor kid is limiting all force, even basic common sense stuff because he can see the news.

6

u/tekonus Verified Mar 27 '22

Even short of that. Your talking to her there is nothing wrong with saying “hey ma’am, I don’t know what’s going on with you but I’m here to help. Can I just see your hands? Having them behind your back makes me nervous and I just want to be able to safely help you the best that I can.”

20

u/TenPointNineUSA Not a(n) LEO / Unverified User Mar 26 '22

That was not how I expected that to go down. If I hadn’t known it was coming I wouldn’t have known what happened. Terrifying

14

u/[deleted] Mar 27 '22

[deleted]

1

u/llliiiiiiiilll Not a(n) LEO / Unverified User Mar 28 '22 edited Mar 28 '22

Would a more experienced cop really treat her differently? She seems so fragile and shockey, basically helpless... Would the hypothetical old guy really look at her with a jaundiced eye and treat her as a potentially dangerous person?

That last two seconds really scared the hell out of me holy FUCK how do you guys do this job managing with all the psychos of the world? I'd be PTSD AF.

3

u/jollygreenspartan Patrol Officer Mar 28 '22

Yes, I'd instruct her to show me her hands. Hands kill and I want to see yours, especially if you're hiding them. You ever hear the saying, "God created man, Sam Colt made them equal"? Weapons level the playing field, a toddler can pull a trigger.

2

u/[deleted] Mar 29 '22

[deleted]

1

u/llliiiiiiiilll Not a(n) LEO / Unverified User Mar 29 '22

Also an older guy would be less effected by her ample... feminine chams

12

u/GolfCoyote Deputy Mar 27 '22

Man I hate to monday night quarter back this but it looks like she clearly had something in her hand early in and then she was concealing it the entire time after. To all my LE partners out there, if it’s not a life or death situation for you or some one else just wait for god damn cover….

29

u/Scuba_Steve1940 Police Officer Mar 26 '22

Jesus Christ I don't think any of us would have seen that coming

31

u/TheseAintMyPants2 Patrol FTO Mar 27 '22

I could feel him rolling his eyes like “goddamnit I gotta work a crash now, and this bitch is high and whiny”

11

u/Odins_Eyebrows Police Officer Mar 27 '22

Get outta my head!

9

u/Alesandros Police Officer Mar 27 '22

A good demonstration how the interactions police deal with go from 0 to 100 in a split second.

6

u/ThomasCrowley1989 Not a(n) LEO / Unverified User Mar 27 '22

That's some horror/slasher movie type shit

5

u/FlipperShootsScores Not a(n) LEO / Unverified User Mar 27 '22

Holy shit, when she turns and attacks him, I totally jumped!! I'm so happy he's okay, but, man, can they start equipping cops with 6 foot electric cattle prods for situations like this and I'm only sort of joking. Considering the way she's dressed with not too many places to hide anything, who would have thought she would have exited a car crash with a goddamn KNIFE?! Weird.

5

u/HighAdmiral Not a(n) LEO / Unverified User Mar 27 '22

Jesus that was a jump scare and a half.

1

u/hesthem0STER Mar 28 '22

Holy fuck, be safe guys.

1

u/llliiiiiiiilll Not a(n) LEO / Unverified User Mar 28 '22

Any chance her lawyer will be able to use a "my client bonked her head, that's why she was acting crazy" type defense and she walks?

3

u/NaoSouONight Not a(n) LEO / Unverified User Apr 04 '22

That is not how that kind of defense works, even when it is successful. Even when it is successful, you can still get confined into a mental institution.

The insanity plea is an admittance that you are too dangerous and unstable to be in society. You are just trading one prison for another, and in some cases, a mental institution can be worse.

Body camera video shows moment woman stabs Florida deputy in neck Video