Video shows deputy pay respects to American flag

DEBARY, Fla. (FOX 35 ORLANDO) - A DeBary restaurant owner is sharing video of a deputy who stopped at his business to pick up and protect a fallen American flag. 

Olexiy Kuzmin owns the Genuine Bistro and Lounge. He usually has three American flags flying in front of the restaurant. Kuzmin says Friday morning, he came into work and noticed one of them had been folded up and left on a hostess stand in the outdoor dining area. He assumed it had been torn off during overnight storms, but he wasn’t sure he brought it under cover.

“I was really curious who picked it up,” he said.

He checked the security cameras and found a Volusia County deputy folding and bringing the flag in at around midnight.

“To see that somebody spent the time to bring it inside and fold it and make sure it’s safe and secure and not laying on the ground. It made me proud to be in this country,” said Kuzmin, who’s originally from Ukraine. 

“I’d like to think that anybody that is afforded the opportunity to live in America would do the exact same thing,” Deputy Lindsey Matusich said.

Kuzmin posted the video to a DeBary community page to share the story of what happened.