Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Trooper injured in wreck released from hospital
Virginia State Police are investigating a crash that sent a trooper to the hospital this morning.
Police said the accident occurred at 7 a.m. on Interstate 81 northbound near mile marker 162 in Botetourt County.
State police spokesman Sgt. Rob Carpentieri said Trooper Jeff Rasnick was sitting inside an unmarked police cruiser on the shoulder of the interstate conducting a routine traffic stop when a tractor-trailer side-swiped his cruiser. A second person -- the driver of the vehicle that Rasnick had stopped -- also was in the cruiser.
Carpentieri said police are analyzing footage from Rasnick’s dashboard camera to gather details as they search for the driver of the truck, a dark-colored conventional or Freightliner tractor with an extended front. He said the tractor has either a white or light-green box trailer and likely has damage to the right rear on the trailer’s side. The trailer also may have maroon paint on the side where it hit Rasnick’s cruiser.
Carpentieri said the offense is considered a felony hit-and-run and police are looking at truck stops and rest areas along I-81 to find the truck.
The trooper sustained non-life threatening injuries and was taken to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital, police said. Hospital spokesman Eric Earnhart said the trooper has been released. The man who Rasnick pulled over had no injuries.
Police said the accident occurred at 7 a.m. on Interstate 81 northbound near mile marker 162 in Botetourt County.
State police spokesman Sgt. Rob Carpentieri said Trooper Jeff Rasnick was sitting inside an unmarked police cruiser on the shoulder of the interstate conducting a routine traffic stop when a tractor-trailer side-swiped his cruiser. A second person -- the driver of the vehicle that Rasnick had stopped -- also was in the cruiser.
Carpentieri said police are analyzing footage from Rasnick’s dashboard camera to gather details as they search for the driver of the truck, a dark-colored conventional or Freightliner tractor with an extended front. He said the tractor has either a white or light-green box trailer and likely has damage to the right rear on the trailer’s side. The trailer also may have maroon paint on the side where it hit Rasnick’s cruiser.
Carpentieri said the offense is considered a felony hit-and-run and police are looking at truck stops and rest areas along I-81 to find the truck.
The trooper sustained non-life threatening injuries and was taken to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital, police said. Hospital spokesman Eric Earnhart said the trooper has been released. The man who Rasnick pulled over had no injuries.
