DRUNK DRIVER CRITICALLY INJURES VSP TROOPER ON INTERSTATE 81
RICHMOND – A Virginia State Police trooper remains in the hospital Saturday after having been struck and severely injured by a drunk driver Friday night (Feb. 1, 2008) on Interstate 81 in Southwest Virginia.
Just before 11 p.m. Friday, Trooper K.S. Chapman stopped a vehicle traveling southbound on I-81 at the 38 mile marker in Smyth County. At approximately 11:07 p.m. as the trooper was finishing up the traffic stop and the stopped vehicle was pulling away, a Ford F-150 pickup truck ran into the back of the trooper’s vehicle. The pickup truck then crossed back over the southbound lanes of I-81 and ran off the left side of the road. The pickup overturned in the median and came to rest upside down. Meanwhile, the impact of the crash forced the trooper’s vehicle to cross the southbound lanes and come to rest off the left shoulder.
Trooper Chapman had been sitting in his marked 2006 Ford Crown Victoria, which was parked on the right shoulder of the southbound lanes of I-81 with its emergency lights activated, when the pickup truck crashed into his vehicle. Trooper Chapman was flown by Virginia State Police Med-Flight helicopter to the Bristol Regional Medical Center. His injuries are severe and he remains in intensive care.
Trooper Chapman, 30, is assigned to Smyth County and has been with the Virginia State Police for five years.
The driver of the pickup truck, Barry Dean Marshall II, 32, of Abingdon, Va., was taken by ambulance to Smyth County Community Hospital for treatment of minor injuries.
Marshall has been charged with DUI. Additional charges are pending as the crash is still under investigation.
Also assisting at the scene and with the investigation were Chilhowie and Smyth County EMS, the Smyth County Sheriff’s Office, Town of Marion Police Department and Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC).
“This is the second Virginia State Police trooper in four months to be struck and seriously injured by a drunk driver,” said Colonel W. Steven Flaherty, Virginia State Police Superintendent. “Impaired drivers put every motorist’s life at risk, including the lives of our public safety professionals.”
“With Super Bowl Sunday festivities upon us this weekend, the State Police are stressing that every driver be drug and alcohol free before getting behind the wheel,” continued Colonel Flaherty. “State police statewide will be out aggressively looking for impaired drivers Sunday night and into Monday morning, and with additional law enforcement on patrol I also emphasize the need for motorists to obey Virginia’s ‘Move Over’ law.”
Since 2002, Virginia law has required motorists to move over a lane or, if unable, to slow down when passing emergency services personnel and vehicles stopped on the side of a road and interstate.
“Move over, slow down and help protect those who protect you,” said Colonel Flaherty.
**Photo of VSP vehicle is available by e-mail. Please contact Corinne.geller@vsp.virginia.gov.
