A Boynton Beach police officer who was struck by a vehicle and critically injured while chasing a shoplifting suspect in February is back at work, the department said.
Police said officer Greg Wertman was running after the suspect at Gateway Boulevard and Congress Avenue near Renaissance Commons on February 27 when a car traveling eastbound on Gateway Boulevard hit him.Police said it did not appear the driver who struck the officer did anything negligent.
He spent about two weeks in the hospital and then continued with outpatient rehabilitation.
"I'd like to take a moment, and say from the bottom of my heart, thank you for the prayers and support that y'all showed me from the community, from my brothers and sisters in blue, from everybody in the county area," Wertman said in a statement on the Boynton Beach Police Department Facebook page.
He said the support meant everything to him. "It helped me through the very hard time through the injury... and made me, you know helped me get back to doing what I love and want to say thank you."