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Officer’s Accident Provides Lasting Lesson for others who follow Dennis Garcia dreamed of becoming a Tampa Firefighter. In July of 1979 he began his quest to become a member of Tampa’s Bravest. Garcia was dismayed to find that the TFR was not hiring at the time, but he was told the Police Department was looking for qualified candidates. Garcia took the application home and surprised his wife, Myra with the announcement that he was going to become a Tampa policeman instead. A year after joining TPD Dennis got the call from Tampa Fire Rescue asking him if he was still interested. Garcia said there was no decision to make, “I loved being a cop, being on the street and dealing with people was where I belonged.” Dennis described his time with the Department as one of the best experiences of his life. Each day he found himself dealing with something different. Dennis was in the early stages of what he thought would be a life long career in police work. He felt that he had found his calling being a cop, and loved being on the street. As his experiences grew, Dennis was asked to help promote the Department in the recruitment of additional Bi-lingual officers. Garcia was glad to be part of the recruitment efforts at TPD. He said “ in those days (1980-82) he found himself frequently being called across both Districts to translate for officers and Spanish speaking members of the community.” Garcia even posed in uniform for a TPD recruitment poster. The advertisement sought “Bi-lingual men and women fluent in Spanish & English, 21-30 years of age, who can qualify as Police Officers”. The ad offered a number of benefits with a salary range of $14,409.20 to $18,343.00 In 1981 Garcia was awarded the medal of Valor for pulling a man out of a burning house in east Tampa. A year later, Dennis was again recognized for his outstanding efforts in tracking down a suspect charged with Sexual Battery, Kidnapping and Strong-Arm Robbery. In February of 1982, Dennis described his life as “ everything I had hoped for, the job, the family – all was good.” His daughter Denise was about to turn 4 years old on the 15th. They celebrated it on the morning of the 12th of February at Chucky-E-Cheese. It was a Saturday and Dennis had to work the midnight Shift. The shift began as any other. A steady rain fell most of the night before Dennis got the fateful call. Just after 9:00 p.m., Garcia was assigned to a “ assist a motorist” call on the Hillsborough Bridge. Dennis responded and found Ray Dixon of Tampa had a flat left rear tire on his yellow Pontiac while going eastbound on Hillsborough Avenue at the bridge. Dixon had stopped in the curb lane eastbound over the Hillsborough River. Garcia turned and stopped his marked Dodge Aspen behind the car. With a continuing rain, Garcia instructed the driver to move the car off the bridge before changing the flat. Not wanting to ruin the new tire, Dixon asked if he could put the spare on before moving the car. When Dixon got the spare out, he found it too was flat. At that point, he wanted to take his tire and get it repaired. Garcia had told the motorist that leaving the car there to get the tire repaired was not an option. Dixon insisted that he did not want to ruin the tire (already flat) and was leaving despite Dennis telling him that a wrecker would be called to remove the Pontiac. A tow truck had arrived on scene and was about to hook up the disabled car when Dixon returned with the repaired tire. Garcia wanting to work with Dixon allowed him to put the repaired tire on the car. When the flat was repaired, the driver went to start the Pontiac only to find the battery dead. Dennis quickly asked the wrecker driver (who was parked a distance in front of the Pontiac) if he would ‘jump’ the car. The wrecker driver reluctantly told him he was not allowed by his company rules. Dennis then made the decision to utilize his marked patrol car to jump the battery and asked the wrecker driver for his cables. Garcia told Dixon to pay the wrecker driver five dollars for the use of the cables. Garcia then let the wrecker driver know that he would be put back on top of the rotation request for wrecker services. With both now satisfied, Dennis thought he would have the roadway clear and finally be back in service – not knowing the call would be his last. After Garcia maneuvered his patrol car’s front end to the front end of the disabled Pontiac, he opened the hood of his Dodge Aspen and began to connect the cables. In doing so, the hood of his car blocked the two rotating police lights from on coming traffic that dark and rainy night. Dixon had just started the Pontiac when Dennis stepped back in between the cars to disconnect the jumper cables. Garcia remembers vividly hearing a screeching sound on the metal grating of the bridge roadway as he was taking the cables off the Pontiac. A 24-year-old named Jeff Muncey driving east along Hillsborough Avenue failed to note the car stopped in the eastbound lanes and struck the Pontiac in the rear. The blow of the car striking the rear of the Pontiac pushed it forward pinning Dennis between the cars. Garcia remembers being caught between the cars and thought of trying to fall to the right to get out of the way. But, before he had a chance to move, the impact crushed his right leg. Now Dennis found himself pinned and in pain, not realizing a second car was approaching. A woman was driving eastbound on Hillsborough Avenue not knowing what lay ahead of her. Without slowing down, her vehicle slammed into the rear of the first striking vehicle. It impacted the rear of that car pushing the Pontiac forward into the helpless Officer. Dennis never had a chance. The second accident crushed both his legs. With both his legs severely injured, Dennis remembers looking up and seeing the wrecker driver standing near the side of the bridge and described his eyes as “ big as silver dollars.” Garcia realized he was hurt badly and despite the overwhelming pain, he fought to remain conscious. Dennis said he didn’t want to die, and knew he needed help quickly, but his radio was in his police car. Dennis recalls yelling at the frozen wrecker driver to “ get on my radio and tell them an officer is down!” Dennis was transported to St. Joseph’s Hospital where doctor’s fought to save his life and his legs. The injuries to his legs were massive and eventually cost him his right leg. Garcia remained in the hospital for the next sixteen weeks. Doctors managed to heal the left one to a reasonable extent, but the injuries ultimately cost Dennis his ability to continue in his career as a Police Officer with the City of Tampa. I remember sitting in the Police Academy that following Monday when the story of the accident was told. A new lesson was quickly taught of the dangers of getting between two cars whether it was a traffic stop or assisting a motorist. This was a lesson that was repeated over the years as Dennis frequently shared his incident with others. Garcia always made it clear that if “ other officers are kept from being killed or hurt by learning what happened to me, then it’s worth it”. At first Dennis said the Department offered him a job in radio or working as an assistant to the first Public Information Officer, Johnny Barker. But, as Dennis recalls “ I couldn’t bring myself to go back, if I was not able to be on the street.” Dennis found a new career in the auto repair business before recently retiring again to become a full time grandpa! His and Myra’s daughter Denise who celebrated her fourth birthday the day of the fateful accident, is now the Administrative C.S.O. in District III, with the married name of Garciga. The accident crushed Garcia’s legs, but not his spirit. After recovering from the massive injuries, Dennis joined the others in retirement that had served the citizens of Tampa over the years. With the passage of time, the memory of Officer Dennis Garcia may fade but not the lesson learned from his accident. If you would like to contact Dennis, send him an email at: drgarcia714@aol.com Note – this column is designed to honor and remember those officers who served or continue to serve as police officers for the City of Tampa. If you have a story or an idea of an officer, email me at Joseph.Durkin@tampagov.net A name and especially a date will help in the research of events from the past.
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