Roll of Honor
Incident
Sheriff Christopher Daniels was killed in an accident while representing the Lake County Sheriff's Office in the fifth annual Battle of the Badges charity event.
Sheriff Daniels and several other sheriffs from around the state were competing in a school bus race at the New Smyrna Speedway. The event was being held to raise money for the Florida Sheriffs Youth Ranch. The bus that Sheriff Daniels was driving was struck by another bus. Upon impact, he was ejected from the bus he was driving and was subsequently struck by another bus.
Sheriff Daniels had served in law enforcement for 20 years.
Survivors
He is survived by his wife and four children.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-FL-7C231EAC- Stewardship
- Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
- Added to badge.nw
- April 2, 2026
- Last updated
- July 23, 2026
Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.
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Tributes
20 years. You could have gone home.
Sheriff Daniels gave the Lake County Sheriff's Office 20 years. Still answering calls at the end.
Thank you for your service to the Tavares community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Sheriff Daniels.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Sheriff Christopher Cooper Daniels, Sr. is one of 10,088 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 31% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In FL, 313 of 1,008 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 31.1% of this state's fallen. That is 0.1 percentage points above the national rate of 31%.
At Lake County Sheriff's Office, 4 of 10 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 40% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Christopher Cooper Daniels, Sr.'s cause is highlighted.
How Christopher Cooper Daniels, Sr. Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Christopher Cooper Daniels, Sr. is highlighted in Oct.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
9 officers from Lake County Sheriff's Office are honored on badge.nw.
