PINELLAS COUNTY, FL (WFLA) – The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office has taken full responsibility for Tuesday night’s deputy-involved crash that left a 20-year-old St. Petersburg man with life-threatening injuries.

Corporal Joseph Miner, along with three other undercover detectives, was pulling out of a Dunkin Donuts parking lot in the area of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard North and 62nd Avenue North in St. Petersburg when a motorcycle driven by Eli Ulibarri crashed into his driver’s side door.

Ulibarri was driving under the speed limit and locked up his breaks and couldn’t avoid the collision.

Sheriff Bob Gualtieri told News Channel 8 that Cpl. Miner, a 12-year veteran of the sheriff’s office, pulled out in front of Ulibarri and violated his right of way.

Moments after the crash, Cpl. Miner can be heard making a call to dispatch, in part, saying, “We need to roll fire rescue … reference a motorcycle, as well. I am involved.”

Ulibarri was transported to Bayfront Medical Center and remains In critical condition. The sheriff said he is expected to survive. Ulibarri is paralyzed from the mid-chest.

“You actually saw a man could have just lost his life,” said Kyle Allen who spoke exclusively with News Channel 8. He witnessed the crash from the gas station right next door. “The bike’s bright red,” he said. “There’s no way you could miss a bike like that.”

Gualtieri said Ulibarri worked at a nearby Publix and was going home for a dinner break when the crash occurred. He said Ulibarri was obeying the law and that he was doing everything right. He was driving 8 miles per hour below the speed limit, wearing his helmet and had his light on.

“Eli was doing absolutely nothing wrong,” Gualtieri told News Channel 8. “Sole responsibility for this terrible accident rests with Corporal Miner … And you’re going to have to swallow the pill and accept the consequence for what you did.”

The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office is paying the victim’s family $200,000 – a decision made about 48 hours after the accident. That’s the maximum liability it can face under Florida law.

Gualtieri visited the family at the hospital Thursday to express his condolences. Cpl. Miner has been issued a traffic citation and has a mandatory court appearance in February. He remains on the job.

“Today is Eli’s 21st birthday,” the sheriff said. “He was getting ready to go on a missionary trip.”

As for Kyle Allen, the man who witnessed the crash, he said, “There’s not enough money to replace that guy’s life and how he could, he might not ever walk again.”

The case will now go before a review board.