A veteran Pembroke Pines motorcycle police officer died while on duty Thursday after a palm frond fell from a tree, hit him and caused him to fall off of his motorcycle, Chief Kipp Shimpeno told reporters Thursday night.
Officer Charles “Charlie” Herring was ejected from the motorcycle and taken to Memorial Regional Hospital but did not survive his injuries. Shimpeno said Herring was the first officer in the city’s history to die in the line of duty.
“I really can’t explain it other than it’s got to be an act of God unfortunately,” Shimpeno told reporters outside of the police department. “We’ve all seen these palm fronds fall. There’s no way to know when it’s going to happen. I don’t think it was even remotely preventable. The investigation will certainly look at that. It just seems an unfortunate tragedy.”
Herring served in the U.S. Army and as an officer in Starke for three years before becoming a Pembroke Pines officer in 2001, the police department said in a news release. The department will announce memorial services.
Shimpeno has worked at the department for 29 years, spending nearly his entire law enforcement career with Herring. He called Herring “a brother in this police department” and a “beloved husband, a beloved father” and a “personal friend” of his.
“Anyone that’s ever met him probably hasn’t met a jollier, happy guy that would do anything for you … You don’t want to lose anyone, whether it’s on duty or off. None of us want that. But this one, Charlie’s touched pretty much every person in this agency and so many people in the community that it’s definitely going to take some time and a lot of togetherness to get through this,” he said.
Shimpeno thanked the staff at Memorial Regional Hospital for their work and thanked the many other law enforcement agencies locally and elsewhere that have offered their support.
The Florida Fraternal Order of Police said in a statement posted to its Facebook page that Herring was “rushed (escorted by his law enforcement brothers) to the hospital and all life saving efforts were unsuccessful.”
Pembroke Pines police responded to a traffic crash with injuries at southbound 184th Avenue, just south of Sheridan Street, about 11:30 a.m., the agency said in a tweet. Police shut down multiple roadways to facilitate the transport of a victim to Memorial Regional Hospital.
They also shut down all of Northwest 184th Avenue between Johnson Street and Northwest 23rd Street to investigate the crash.
“Earlier this afternoon, Sheridan Park received the tragic news of Officer Herring’s passing. He was the father of one of our students. Our thoughts and condolences go out to her and her family. Grief counseling will be available to students if needed,” Sheridan Park Elementary School officials said in a Facebook post.
The Florida Police Benevolent Association also tweeted a statement Thursday following the accident.
“Please keep Pembroke Pines Police Department and Broward County Police Benevolent Association in your thoughts this afternoon as they mourn the loss of one of their own,” the statement reads.
