Keys deputy injured after a bus struck his motorcycle on U.S. 1

A Monroe County Sheriff’s Office deputy was airlifted to a Miami hospital Monday after he was struck from behind while driving his motorcycle south on U.S. 1.

Deputy David Brummer, 34, was riding a traffic enforcement BMW motorcycle southbound at mile marker 16 on Sugarloaf Key at about 8:18 a.m. in front of a 2018 Odyssey bus driven by 76-year-old Noelle Plagens, of Key West.

Brummer hit his emergency police lights and began to slow down. That’s when the bus struck his motorcycle from behind, said Adam Linhardt, the sheriff’s office spokesman.

Plagens was cited by the Florida Highway Patrol for failure to yield to an emergency vehicle.

She was not injured in the crash and was wearing a seat belt, reports stated.

The bus “did not properly slow down or yield” to the deputy, according to the FHP crash report.

Brummer on Monday afternoon was in stable condition “and good spirits,” at Jackson South Medical Center, Linhardt said.

U.S. 1 was blocked for about 30 minutes during the crash investigation.

Brummer has worked for the sheriff’s office since January 2007 and he is a former FHP trooper and a police officer with the Beach Haven, New Jersey Police Department. He has received 21 commendations in the 12 years he has been a Monroe deputy.

This story was originally published May 6, 2019 at 12:52 PM.