Crash injuries could end PCBPD captain’s career

PANAMA CITY BEACH
The police captain struck early Sunday morning might never return to work, Panama City Beach Police Chief Drew Whitman said Monday.
Capt. Ron Crowson is scheduled to retire after 31 years as a police officer June 4, but it’s not clear if he will have fully recovered from the broken leg he sustained in the crash on Back Beach Road early Sunday. It will be a month before Crowson can even put any weight on his leg, Whitman said.
“Probably no time soon,” Whitman said of Crowson’s return. “I’d be surprised if he comes back before he retires.”
Crowson was helping direct traffic after a crash on Back Beach Road around 1 a.m. Sunday when authorities said 29-year-old Richard Allen Johns drove a Mazda Miata into the back of a car that was being lifted onto a wrecker truck before the Miata struck Crowson and 29-year-old Royce Kershaw III.
Johns was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence with serious bodily injury. The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating the crash.