Fallen Clay County deputy Ben Zirbel remembered on anniversary of death

CLAY COUNTY, Fla. —

The Clay County Sheriff’s Office is remembering deputy Ben Zirbel three years after he was hit and killed on Blanding Boulevard.

On Aug. 18, 2018, the driver of a pickup truck was headed north on Blanding Blvd. as Zirbel’s agency motorcycle traveled southbound. The vehicles collided as the pickup turned left onto Camp Francis Johnson Road. Deputy Zirbel, 40, was thrown from his bike on impact.

At the time of his death, Zirbel was a 12-year veteran of the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, husband, and father. He worked as a traffic deputy.

Zirbel was kept on life support for two days following the crash so his organs could be donated. A memorial in the main hallway of Orange Park Medical Center now stands in honor of those who gave the gift of life through organ donation.

According to information listed by the memorial, Zirbel’s gift helped at least five people, including a 70-year-old man who received his heart.

“Ben’s passion in life was to help people, which is why he became a sheriff’s deputy,” Zirbel’s wife Anna told Action News. “Even now in this moment of our most painful grief, I’m happy to say that Ben is still helping people.”

Less than a month after his death, the Clay County Sheriff’s Office announced stronger enforcement against distracted driving.

In 2019, his name was added to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington D.C.

The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles later said there was insufficient evidence to charge the driver with manslaughter in the crash that killed the Clay County deputy. Instead, Florida Highway Patrol issued a citation to the driver for failure to yield to oncoming traffic.

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