LOCAL

‘I knew I was the last one’: FHP trooper who stood as final line of defense retells her heroic tale

Jesse Mendoza
Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Toni Schuck was posted on the southbound entrance ramp to the Sunshine Skyway Bridge rest area on Sunday morning when she heard the radio call that a 2011 BMW 335i was headed straight toward a crowd of runners.

The driver, 52-year-old Kristen Kay Watts, of Sarasota, already had blown past the initial barricades and several law enforcement officers. Schuck was the only one who could stop her from potentially plowing into the 7,000 people gathered there for the Armed Forces Skyway 10K.

The Florida Highway Patrol trooper immediately turned around her Chevy Tahoe.

“I knew I was the last one,” said Schuck, who is recovering from injuries sustained after crashing into the alleged drunk driver. “I knew there was nobody else behind me.”

“I was about a half-mile from the starting point,” she said. “In my mind, I’m thinking she’s going to stop.”

Previously:Trooper stood ‘as the last line of defense,’ used car to stop DUI driver, save runners

And:Sarasota woman plowed through barricades towards hundreds of people on the Skyway Bridge

The Florida Highway Patrol applauds the actions of Trooper Toni Schuck, a 26 year veteran of the Patrol who, as the last line of defense to the Skyway 10K runners.

But Watts, who authorities say was highly intoxicated, kept driving. 

“I had positioned my car in the middle of the road,” Schuck said Thursday as she tearfully recounted Sunday morning’s events. “I’m not trained to do that, it was just an instinct. I thought that ... she would see that truck and she would stop.”

Watts was on the outside lane. Schuck veered left, then right, traveling slowly as she mirrored Watts’ motions.

“The next thing was the crash,” Schuck said. “It’s hard because I’ve done this for 26 years, and I've never been in this position. I’ve never been in this position where I’ve had to put myself (on the line) for somebody else.”

“Every day since it happened I’ve thought about it,” Schuck said. “You go through the what-ifs. But I was the last officer. I knew that. I knew it was me. So if it wasn’t me to get her to stop, then who?”

Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Toni Schuck receives a customized race bib with her badge number, and a race medal, in honor of her heroic actions that may have saved the lives of many at the Armed Forces Skyway 10K.

Schuck was transported to the hospital in an ambulance, and as it traveled across the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, she saw people still walking on the road and became overcome with emotion.

“I’m thankful she didn’t get past me,” she said. “She could have stopped, she could have just stopped, but she chose to do what she did.”

Outpouring of support

Watts tested above the legal intoxication limit six hours after the arrest, FHP spokesman Sgt. Steve Gaskins said.

She was charged with driving under the influence with serious injury, two counts of DUI with property damage, and two counts of reckless driving involving injury and property damage. She was taken to the Manatee County Jail and also was reported injured from the collision.

Gaskins said law enforcement does not believe Watts’ actions were intentionally meant to harm runners. Watts is demanding a trial by jury, according to court records.

“We don’t know what her mindset was,” Gaskin said. “We know that she was impaired, that’s for sure. ... But of course one of the other situations (that was considered) was would this be an intentional act? We didn’t know at the time, we just responded. It turned out that it was an impaired driver, but we don’t believe that’s the case, but at the time we did not know.”

Schuck is a 26-year veteran of the agency, and for about seven years, she has served in commercial vehicle enforcement. She inspects motor vehicles traveling with hazardous materials, and the truck she was driving was equipped with radiation detectors.

She is married to a Pasco Sheriff’s Office sergeant and is the mother of two sons. One is in the air force; the other is in a law enforcement academy.

She intends to return to active duty after recovering from her injuries.

Skyway 10K spokesman James Judge typically provides marketing for the event, but on Sunday morning, he was the final runner to enter the racecourse. 

“It was on a whim that I was going to run this thing,” Judge said. “I was the last person to leave the start line, and this happened minutes later.”

At Thursday’s press conference, he thanked Schuck for her actions and presented her with a customized race bib with her badge number and an honorary race medal. 

“It’s heroic in every aspect of the word,” Judge said. “At that point, there were still probably a couple thousand people on the bridge. A lot of those folks are also law enforcement members or their family members of law enforcement. Our gratitude is extreme.”

Schuck said she has received an outpouring of support from those thankful for her heroic actions.

She asks that anybody who wishes to donate or send flowers instead make contributions to the Tunnel to Towers Foundation. She donates monthly to the organization, which supports wounded first responders and military members.

“I’ve heard from hundreds of people,” Schuck said. “I’ve tried to reply to who I could. We’ve had flowers sent to the station from runners. All across the community, all across the state. I’ve heard from people from Washington state. Indiana. New Hampshire. Texas. All over.”