End of Watch: Master Corporal Brian LaVigne of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office
On the evening of January 11, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO,) headquartered in Tampa, Florida, shared the tragic news that they are investigating a fatal accident that claimed the life of one of their own – Master Corporal Brian LaVigne – who had been with the Sheriffโs Office for more than 30 years.
At approximately 3:42 p.m. on January 11, HCSO received a 911 call from management at Paddock Club Apartments, located at 921 Paddock Club Drive in Brandon. The caller reported that a male resident had been throwing property out of his apartment window and front door. The caller also stated that this individual has threatened to harm staff in the past. Deputies spoke to the man through the door, but there was no cause for arrest at the time.
Later, at approximately 5:03 p.m., another disturbance is called into HCSO’s Communications Bureau. This time, a neighbor called to report that a man was nude and acting erratically. Again, management from the Paddock Club Apartments called to report the same complaint.
When deputies arrived at the scene the second time, they attempted to establish a dialogue with Travis Zachary Gabriel Garrett, 28, but were unsuccessful.
Garrett then became combative and struck one of the responding deputies, Michael Durig, Jr. multiple times. It was then that the second responding deputy, Adam Pautz, deployed his taser once without success, forcing Deputy Durig to deploy his taser two times, also without success.
Garrett fled in his car, while Deputy Durig and Deputy Pautz gave chase. Deputy Pautz tried to block Garrett, however, Garrett was able to get past him and crashed through one of the apartment complex’s gated entrances. Garrett continued to flee onto Brandon Parkway, and then westbound onto Lumsden Road, where, according to several witnesses, he intentionally rammed into Master Corporal Brian LaVigne at a high rate of speed. Master Corporal LaVigne was operating his marked HCSO vehicle at the time.
The Sheriffโs Office reported that Master Corporal LaVigne’s fellow deputies worked heroically to try and tend to his injuries, while Hillsborough County Fire Rescue attempted to extricate Master Corporal LaVigne for several minutes. Despite their courageous efforts and those on frontlines at Tampa General Hospital, Master Corporal LaVigne passed away while in the line of duty.
“๐ ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐ฎ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ด๐ป๐ฒ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ป ๐ฎ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐น๐น๐๐ฏ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ด๐ต ๐๐ผ๐๐ป๐๐ ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ณ๐ณ’๐ ๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐บ๐ถ๐น๐ ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ญ๐ต๐ต๐ฌ, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ท๐๐๐ ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐,” ๐๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ณ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฟ๐ผ๐ป๐ถ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ. “๐ช๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐น๐น ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ด๐ฒ๐ ๐ ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ฎ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ด๐ป๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฑ๐ผ๐๐ป ๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐น๐ถ๐ณ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฑ๐๐๐ ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฝ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐๐พ๐๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐บ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ต๐ผ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐น๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐๐ฎ๐น ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฝ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ต ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ต๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฑ.”
Sheriff Chronister went on to say at last nightโs press conference that the Master Corporal only had one shift left before his retirement.
Master Corporal LaVigne was scheduled to retire this week. He was 54 years old. He is survived by his wife, and two adult children, one of whom is also a deputy with the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.
HCSO is investigating the fatal incident and charges against Garrett are forthcoming. He does not have any arrest history in Hillsborough County, but he was previously Baker Acted in Pasco County.
The Baker Act is a Florida law that enables families and loved ones to provide emergency mental health services and temporary detention for people who are impaired because of their mental illness, and who are unable to determine their needs for treatment. ~ UF Health
WTSP shared several heartbreaking notes of condolences from the surrounding area law enforcement agencies.
Ace News Today would also like to share our condolences with all of Master Corporal LaVigneโs family, friends and co-workers!
For more on the story, see Sheriff Chronisterโs press conference from last night.
(Source: Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office)
~ Posted by Richard Webster, Ace News Today / Follow Richard on Facebook and Twitter
