Officer embodies WGPD standards in response to motorcycle crash

It was just after midnight on Sunday, July 20, when a young man crashed his motorcycle near the intersection of Tilden and Winter Garden-Vineland roads.

Responding to the scene was Winter Garden Police Department officer Brian Drechsel, a 20-year veteran of law enforcement. The crash victim had suffered near-fatal injuries and needed to be urgently transported to the Level I trauma center at Orlando Regional Medical Center in downtown Orlando. 

During the initial response to the incident, Drechsel and other first responders — with their focus on tending to the victim — did not find a phone or wallet. After making sure he was transported to ORMC safely, Drechsel headed back to the scene of the accident to search for anything that could help identify the John Doe and notify his family. 

Eventually, he found a phone and made a third 20-mile trip on his overnight shift from Winter Garden to downtown Orlando. He then used the facial-recognition feature on the phone to unlock it and found a contact for Dad. Thanks to Drechsel’s efforts, the family of Matthew Lafferty, the 23-year-old injured motorist, was contacted at 2:50 a.m.

“From what Officer Drechsel said, the accident happened a little past midnight at the very last light before our neighborhood,” said Matthew Lafferty’s father, Mark Lafferty. “Not only do we live there, but Matt — like his brother and friends — was a Foundation Academy boy, so he’s very familiar with that area. But even with him being so close to home, we didn’t know anything. I was asleep at the time, but my wife was awake around the time of the accident, calling him because he has a 12 a.m. curfew. She couldn’t get a hold of him, and we didn’t hear anything from him until my phone rang at 3 a.m. from the trauma center in downtown Orlando.”

When Matthew Lafferty’s parents arrived at ORMC, they were informed he was admitted as a John Doe but an officer had made the effort to identify him and contact the family. They were given a bag with their son’s clothes and other items, one of which was a note from Drechsel with his contact information in case the family wanted to speak with him for any reason. 

“I didn’t think a lot of it then, but as the hours passed that night, I found it to be a profoundly kind act for him to make those trips at three o’clock in the morning on a Sunday to try to get our boy identified,” Mark Lafferty said. “We wouldn’t have gotten that call if it weren’t for what he did. … When things settled down a bit, I had the chance to spend some time speaking with him and thank him for what he did. 

“It was a really long night, but it would have been worse without him,” he said. “I can’t imagine spending that entire night not knowing where Matt was. I’m still amazed that he took the time out of his night — at that time — to not just do that for my son but to also ask if I needed anything. … For someone I wouldn’t be able to point out if he were standing next to me in an elevator here, to do that for us makes me incredibly grateful. I just want to thank him, and I’m sure he probably doesn’t even want any sort of recognition. He’s probably just the type of man that does that because it’s who he is.” 

According to Winter Garden Police Capt. Scott Allen, that’s exactly the type of officer Drechsel is and why he’s the perfect embodiment of “The Winter Garden Way,” the department and city’s stated vision for serving its community with the best customer service possible, ensuring Winter Garden continues to be a safe, family-oriented city. 

“Officer Drechsel had 17 years of experience as a police officer from out of state before coming to Winter Garden for the past three years,” Allen said. “The police department encourages our members to provide the best customer service possible to all individuals they encounter. Hearing the praises that Mr. Lafferty’s family is giving to Officer Drechsel for his response to his horrific crash is not surprising, as he is known to go above and beyond. The professionalism he displayed reflects positively upon him and the Winter Garden Police Department, accentuating the Winter Garden Way. We at the department wish for a speedy recovery for Mr. Lafferty.”