FLORIDA ORLANDO OFFICER LEAPS, AVOIDS PICKUP BARRELING TOWARD HER

An Orlando police officer was nearly hit and killed early Monday by the driver of a pickup who rear-ended her patrol car as she was ticketing two apparent street racers. Investigators said Orlando police officer Tracey Bishop was standing next to her vehicle at Mills and Highway 50 just after 3 a.m. while a tow truck confiscated the cars of two drivers accused of street racing.

Bishop said as she was wrapping up the scene, she heard squealing tires and noticed a black pickup barreling toward her. "When I turned I could see the car coming and I basically jumped out of the way and it nearly missed me," Bishop said. "Just to think that if I would not have turned a second late, I probably would have been involved in it."

Bishop jumped to safety and did not suffer serious injury but said she was shaken. The driver of the pickup was arrested after he refused to take a field sobriety test, police said. His passenger was allowed to leave the scene.