PBSO deputy gets year in jail for reckless driving
Brandon Hegele left driver of car he hit with life-altering injuries.
Brandon Hegele was sentenced in connection to the May 2016 crash that left a man with lifealtering injuries.
WEST PALM BEACH — Palm Beach County sheriff ’s deputy Brandon Hegele was sentenced to a year in jail and five years of probation in connection with the May 2016 crash that left a man with life-altering injuries.
Judge Samantha Schosberg-Feuer said maybe Hegele was trying to be a hero when he did not listen to commands to stay back and pursued a wanted vehicle, ultimately crashing and permanently injuring Harry Deshommes. But in that action, she said, he did not protect the community.
“Police officers are here to protect us, not endanger us,” Schosberg-Feuer said.
Records show Hegele was driving 104 mph seconds before he hit the back of the Smart car driven by Deshommes on Southern Boulevard on May 27, 2016. That day, the sheriff ’s office was searching for a wanted vehicle in the area, but sergeants in command told deputies several times to keep their distance and not to pursue it.
In the six seconds before Hegele’s sheriff ’s office patrol vehicle hit the Smart car, the deputy traveled nearly the length of three football fields: 883 feet.
Deshommes, who was making a U-turn before the crash, was left with life-altering injuries following the crash, including a traumatic brain injury and the inability to walk without the assistance of a cane.
On Feb. 1, Hegele was found guilty of reckless driving and has been in the Palm Beach County Jail since.
In court Tuesday, family, friends, co-workers and Hegele himself spoke before the judge asking her for leniency.
Fellow deputies said Hegele
was a leader in the department, someone they hoped younger deputies would look to for advice and emulate. A neighbor said Hegele was the first person to go around their neighborhood after the hurricane to check on everyone to see how they were doing. And above all else, everyone agreed he was a loving father to his 9-yearold and 2-year-old.
Hegele told the judge he loved his job and the community and was working on a master’s degree in public administration before the crash. He said he hopes to continue his education once he’s served his sentence. After the crash, he said he has prayed for Deshommes and his family every day. Though he said he and his family have gone through financial and emotional stress since the crash, he knows the crash has altered the lives of Deshommes and his family.
“It pales in comparison to what Deshommes and his sister have gone through,” he said.
Deshommes’ sister, Gina Desrouleaux, who spoke during the trial, also spoke Tuesday before the judge.
Desrouleaux said her now 62-year-old brother cannot remember the last 15 years of his life because of the crash, let alone the crash itself. She said her brother is crushed he will never be able to work again or live on
‘Police officers are here to protect us, not endanger us.’
Samantha SchosbergFeuer Judge in deputy’s case
his own. She said she understands Hegele and his family have gone through a lot as well since the crash, but her family’s lives will never be the same.
“One time is a mistake. Two to three times is willful,” she said, referencing Hegele’s numerous crashes before the one that injured her brother.
Internal affairs files showed that prior to the May 2016 crash, Hegele was involved in at least six crashes in his patrol car, causing tens of thousands of dollars in damage. In most of those cases, he was given a written reprimand.
Defense Attorney Flynn Bertisch had asked the judge for probation and a withholding of adjudication so Hegele could re-enter the community without a felony conviction. After she gave her sentence, Schosberg-Feuer explained she ruled for the adjudication withheld because Hegele had no previous criminal history.
Outside the courtroom, Bertisch said the judge gave a fair sentence.