Body Camera Stops Bullet, Saves Florida Deputy’s Life In Gun Fight

A Florida sheriff’s deputy is recovering after being shot because his body-worn camera stopped a potentially fatal bullet, authorities said.

Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood said during a press conference Monday night that Deputy José Rivera and trainee Deputy Jacob Gomez Lopez were investigating an assault that allegedly occurred in DeLand earlier in the day when they arrived at a Deltona residence to speak to a suspect.

When they knocked on the front door, 31-year-old Luis Diaz Polanco greeted them while carrying a box and “acted in complete surprise” to see law enforcement, Chitwood said. Polanco allegedly slammed the door shut, and when the deputies looked through the window, they saw him moving to the back of the house.

Rivera told Lopez to go to the back of the house in case the suspect tried to flee. At that point, Polanco allegedly removed a “tan Glock” firearm from the box and engaged Rivera in a close-range gunfight, Chitwood said.

Rivera was struck in the shoulder and the leg, but was “alert and in good enough spirits to crack jokes with the medical staff treating his injuries,” the sheriff’s office said in its initial statement. Later, the sheriff’s office shared a photo of Rivera’s body-worn camera with bullet damage.

“Thank God for his body camera, takes a round dead center, in through the body camera, which we believe then ricocheted to his shoulder,” Chitwood said.

Deputies were able to pull Rivera to safety and take Polanco into custody at the scene.

Chitwood said Polanco was originally accused of threatening a family friend, prompting Monday’s investigation. He added that his agency last year detained Polanco under the Florida Mental Health Act, commonly known as the Baker Act, and that he has had other run-ins with law enforcement in the region.

“Lake Mary Police has him listed as a violent schizophrenic bipolar person who, when they don’t take meds, could be extremely violent,” Chitwood said.

Polanco was still being questioned by investigators at the time of the press conference but was expected to be charged with attempted murder.

“You gotta believe in God if you’re in a … gun battle in that distance,” Chitwood said of how close the deputy and suspect were when shots were fired. “There is no room except for divine intervention.”