End of watch: Who was Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Zachary Fink?
Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Zachary Fink was a 26-year-old law enforcement officer who was killed in the line of duty in Port St. Lucie on Friday, Feb. 2.
In the early hours of the morning, St. Lucie County Sheriff’s deputies had attempted to pull over a white Kia that was driving at “excessive” speed on West Midway Road in Fort Pierce, FHP officials said. About eight minutes after the vehicle had fled the scene, Fink observed it make a U-turn on southbound Interstate 95 and begin driving the wrong way.
As Fink attempted a U-turn in pursuit of the Kia, a semi-truck collided with his car. He was transported to HCA Florida Lawnwood Hospital in Fort Pierce, where he died. The truck driver died at the crash site, near mile marker 120 on southbound I-95.
The Kia hit a tree and ran off the road, and the driver fled the vehicle, officials said. The unnamed male suspect was apprehended about 2 miles from the crash.
Fink was a member of the FHP academy’s 146th recruit class and graduated in 2020. He was assigned to Orlando-based Troop D before transferring to Troop L, which encompasses the Treasure Coast.
He is survived by his parents and fiancée, who live in Port St. Lucie.
Trooper Fink remembered as ‘hero’
“Trooper Fink is a hero who died while helping people, something he was passionate about since the age of 6,” Dave Kerner, executive director of the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, said in a statement. “This dedication and love for helping others defines FHP, and the FHP family honors his service and pray for everyone who lost a loved one today.”
FHP Col. Gary Howze II echoed in a statement, “Trooper Fink died a hero protecting and serving his community. … We appreciate Trooper Fink’s sacrifice and know that the people of Florida are safer because of his commitment to keeping them safe.”
State and local law enforcement gathered at the hospital Friday morning and around 10 a.m., an FHP honor guard escorted the ambulance carrying Fink’s body from Lawnwood to the medical examiner.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: End of watch: Who was Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Zachary Fink?
