A woman recounts her heroic attempt to save fallen Deputy Sergeant Elio Diaz

By Alan Campbell & Derrick Shaw

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    CHARLOTTE HARBOR, Florida (WBBH) — Charlotte County Deputy Sergeant Elio Diaz was shot and killed outside a Chevron gas station in Port Charlotte off US-41 Sunday afternoon. A clerk at the station rushed to try to save his life and recounts her harrowing effort.

Michelle Pardo, who was working at the Chevron gas station, witnessed the incident and immediately went to help the Sergeant Diaz.

“I need them to know I tried. I did, I really did try,” Pardo said. “I could see that he was breathing, and I was asking him, ‘Sir, are you ok?’ He said something to me, and I’m beating myself because I don’t know what he said. He said something, I heard him say something, but I couldn’t make it out.”

Pardo’s shift started normally, but around 3 p.m. Sunday, she noticed something unusual when she saw a deputy pulling someone over on US-41, right across from the Sunseeker Resort.

“I kept looking out the window and saying something was not right. I went to look out the door and kept saying something’s not right,” Pardo said.

Sheriff Bill Prummell stated that Diaz approached the vehicle to find Andrew Mostyn Jr., 24, in the driver’s seat. Mostyn then pulled out a gun and shot Diaz.

“I grabbed my phone. I was in the process of calling 911 when I got to him,” Pardo said.

“I get up to him and said there’s an officer down, and I could hear it in her voice. She started panicking. I was beyond panicked, and I just lost it. I knew I was screaming at her, but I didn’t mean it,” Pardo added.

“I had blood all over my hand and my pants. I just wasn’t going to leave him there,” Pardo said.

Pardo risked her own life to try and save Diaz.

Deputy Cpl. Elio Diaz pictured with Charlotte County Sheriff Bill PrummellCharlotte County Sgt. Elio Diaz, father of 4, shot and killed in the line of duty “I don’t even know if he was gone at that point. I grabbed my phone, and I just ran. I didn’t even see if he was still out there. What if he continued to shoot, or what if he shot at someone else, and I just ran right out there,” Pardo said.

“That’s just me. I panicked over the smallest things, but with that, I didn’t… I didn’t panic,” she added.

Sergeant Diaz was taken to a local hospital, where he later died. Pardo did everything she could, trying her best to perform CPR until paramedics arrived.

“I feel like if I had taken a class, he would have made it, and he would have had a chance. If someone there knew what they were doing, he could have made it,” Pardo said.

Elio Diaz’Diaz was famous around the agency’: Who is Elio Diaz, Charlotte County deputy shot, killed on duty? “Now that it’s over, I do think that he was too far because I remember seeing things,” she added.

Mostyn was later shot and killed by a deputy at the Popeyes on Kings Highway, several miles away.

Pardo wants Diaz’s family to know she did everything she could.

“I need them to know I tried. I did, I really did try,” she said.

Several deputies expressed their sorrow, calling it a sad day for the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office and law enforcement along the Gulf Coast.

Corporal Diaz was promoted to Sergeant Diaz posthumously on Monday.

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