Armed Motorist Saves Deputy Under Attack, Called Out as Hero by Sheriff

FORT MYERS, FL — A man’s decision to lend a hand to a Lee County Sheriff’s deputy who was under attack on Interstate 75 on Monday morning has drawn applause from Sheriff Mike Scott.

“In a day and age where race is a near instant focus for media and other pundits in police incidents, the fact is that this hero happens to be a man of color who stopped another man of color from further harming or killing a white cop; thereby reminding us that black lives matter, blue lives matter, and indeed all life matters,” Scott wrote on his agency’s Facebook page Wednesday.

The attack that led to the fatal shooting of Edward Strother unfolded around 9:30 a.m. Nov. 14. Deputy Dean Bardes was reportedly helping the Florida Highway Patrol with an unrelated crash on I-75 near Corkscrew Road when a vehicle nearly struck his cruiser.

The sheriff’s office has said Bardes thought the action was intentional and chased the vehicle south on the interstate. The pursuit ended on the southbound off ramp to Corkscrew Road. It is there Strother is accused of getting out of his vehicle and attacking Bardes as he got out of his patrol vehicle.

The two men reportedly scuffled, but Bardes was unable to break free and struggled to hang on to his weapon. The attack, Scott said, was "vicious." It was at that point, the unnamed good Samaritan, a concealed weapons permit holder, came upon the scene. The unnamed man, “recognized the imminent threat, rushed to Deputy Bardes’ aid, and ultimately stopped that threat,” Scott wrote on Facebook.

Strother, 53, died as a result of the shooting. He reportedly had an active misdemeanor arrest warrant for a failure to appear in court on a prior battery charge.

Scott has declined to name the man who saved his deputy, but called him a “hero.”

Bardes was hospitalized following the attack, but is expected to recover.

Scott also called Bardes a hero and thanked him for his bravery. Bardes serves as a field training officer for the agency. Scott said Monday was one of the few times in long while he was riding alone in his cruiser without a recruit in tow.

No further information about the case is being released at this time.

Photo of Lee County Sheriff Mike Scott via the sheriff’s office’s Facebook page