OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. – An Osceola County deputy who was involved in a crash Tuesday, just weeks after authorities say she caused a wreck that left a man dead, will be reassigned to a role that does not require her to drive a patrol vehicle, officials from the Sheriff's Office said.
Maj. Jacob Ruiz, the department's public information officer, said that Deputy Gloria Boccio, 29, had been back from administrative leave in connection with the Oct. 5 fatal crash for about a week when she caused a chain-reaction crash on State Road 417 Tuesday afternoon.
"In light of everything, we're going to reassign her within the agency that doesn't require her to drive a vehicle until they a can have those administrative reviews," Ruiz said.
In the first crash, officials from the Florida Highway Patrol said Boccio was driving her department-issued Dodge Charger on U.S. Highway 192 in Kissimmee when she failed to slow down and hit the back of a 2013 Ford pickup truck, which then hit two other vehicles.
The truck driver, Robert Johnston, 34, of Clermont, died as a result of the crash.
A new FHP crash report shows Boccio was not wearing a seat belt during the incident. She was traveling at 55 mph and records show that she claimed her brakes failed moments before that crash.
After that crash, Boccio was placed on administrative leave until Oct. 29, Ruiz said.
On Tuesday, Boccio was driving a 2014 Ford SUV owned by the Sheriff's Office on State Road 417 when she failed to slow down and had to swerve from the right lane into the center lane to avoid hitting the vehicle in front of her, according to an FHP report.
Troopers said Boccio's maneuver caused a crash involving her SUV and a pickup truck that was in the center lane. That impact caused the front of the patrol vehicle to hit a Mini Cooper that she had been traveling behind in the right lane and that car then hit the back of a Volkswagen, the report said.
None of the drivers of the four vehicles involved in the crash were injured.
After hearing about the latest crash, Johnston's mother told News 6, "I just want her off the road before she destroys more lives."
Records show Boccio, in one way or another, has been involved in five crashes since becoming a full-time deputy in 2017.