Deputy intentionally runs undercover vehicle into wrong-way driver accused of DUI

By Claire Metz

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    FLAGLER COUNTY, Florida (WESH) — Body camera video shows Det. Daniel Malta questioning 57-year-old Timothy Toporek after the deputy finally got him stopped.

Investigators say Toporek was driving north in the southbound lanes of US-1 at about 65 miles an hour and heading into the Old Dixie roundabout.

“I knew the vehicles coming into the roundabout wouldn’t have had the opportunity to avoid the head-on collision with the vehicle,” Malta said.

Malta followed the wrong-way driver in his undercover Challenger, lights and sirens flashing, and when the driver still didn’t stop, the detective veered the Challenger into the suspect’s SUV, then pushed it off into the median.

“All of us out here would do it, day in and day out; comes with the job. And sometimes you just don’t think of it, you just have to act,” he said.

Neither the detective nor Toporek was injured during the interception crash, and the detective quickly determined Toporek was under the influence from the smell, slurred speech and incorrectly answered questions.

Deputies say not only was the suspect showing obvious signs of impairment, they say once they searched his vehicle, they found two bottles of vodka in the center console—one was open and almost empty.

The detective says as the suspect was driving the wrong way, a number of other vehicles had to pull off the road to avoid him. Sheriff Rick Staly calls his deputy’s actions heroic.

“This is an example of taking your oath serious and making a split-second decision to save other people’s lives,” Staly said.

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