Fort Worth Officer Matthew Brazeal Who Was Struck And Dragged Is Out Of ICU
FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) - Community members joined law enforcement families Monday to raise more than $6,000 for a Fort Worth Police officer who survived being run over by a fleeing suspect in Fort Worth.
Matthew Brazeal was going through yet another surgery Monday while the fundraiser was happening.
His young brother though said his sibling was able to start eating some solid food recently, and had moved from intensive care to a regular hospital bed, following the incident in early June.
"He's mentally tough," said Jared Brazeal. "He went to Iraq. He's been through a lot. He's going to be alright. He's staying tough."
Brazeal was putting down stop sticks June 13 to stop a car drive by Ronnie Jackson, Jr. Police said the car was stolen and that Jackson veered toward Brazeal, hitting him at high speed and dragging him underneath the vehicle.
Some of his immediate family members have still not been able to see him in the hospital, due to visitor restrictions related to Covid-19. Jared, however, said his father was able to go in on Father's Day, and that he was able to talk to his brother on the phone.
"He was happy, you know, to have made it out alive from that, what he went through."
Law enforcement families made up much of the early crowd at Café Republic on N. Beach St. in Fort Worth. News of the fundraiser though spread widely on community Facebook pages and attracted area residents.
Angie Treu and her daughter Madison picked up breakfast to-go, specifically to show support for Brazeal.
"This is a community and I feel like our officers are part of our community as well," she said. "I mean we're all Americans and we should stand up for each other all of us."
During a time when police work is being heavily scrutinized, Jared Brazeal said it was encouraging to see the support.
"Regardless of what you see sometimes, the way you feel, I think people are always going to come together and show their support for things that really matter," he said.
The restaurant donated 25% of all sales Monday to the family. A silent auction also added to the total.
They were also still raising money through sales of t-shirts online.
