BOX ELDER COUNTY, Utah, Nov. 21, 2016 (Gephardt Daily) — A wreck involving a Utah Highway Patrol trooper’s vehicle Sunday brought the total of crashes involving the agency to four over the weekend, with one of them leaving a trooper in extremely critical condition.
This latest incident occurred in Box Elder County, when a trooper was providing traffic control for a fully engulfed vehicle fire near mile marker 34 on I-84, according to a news release from the UHP.
A semi-truck entered into the closed right lane and then the right shoulder. The semi-truck hit the rear of the trooper’s vehicle, which was parked and unoccupied, and narrowly missed a fire truck on scene.
The trooper was outside of his vehicle and was able to move out of the way. The suspect did however run over the foot of a firefighter from Box Elder County, who was transported to hospital with a possible broken ankle.
This incident happened in about the same area where on Friday night, UHP Trooper Eric Ellsworth was left in extremely critical condition after being struck by a vehicle.
According to UHP Sgt. Todd Royce, Ellsworth was helping with traffic control about 9:45 p.m. near the site of a low-hanging power line outside Garland when he was hit by a vehicle near 13600 North on State Route 13.
The severely injured trooper was first taken to a hospital in Box Elder County before being flown by helicopter to Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, where he remains in extremely critical condition Monday.
Investigators said Ellsworth had stepped from his patrol car and was attempting to warn an approaching semi-truck driver of the low-hanging wire when he was struck by a teenage girl driving southbound.
Royce said Ellsworth — a married father of three young boys — began his career with the UHP in Green River before transferring to Box Elder County, where he made his family home.
The second incident occurred Saturday night when an intoxicated driver, who apparently didn’t see the emergency flares and flashing lights warning motorists of a crash involving a different intoxicated driver, struck the back of a UHP trooper’s vehicle on Interstate 15.
According to a news release from the UHP, a crash with no injuries occurred at about 11 p.m. on I-15 northbound near mile marker 13 in St. George.
The release states that while the driver involved in the crash was being arrested for driving under the influence, a gray Ford Focus drove through the lane closure, “paying no attention to the emergency flares, or flashing lights, and struck the back of the trooper’s patrol car.”
The trooper was out of his vehicle when it was hit, and there were no injuries. The driver of the Ford Focus was arrested for DUI.
The third incident involving UHP occurred early Sunday morning when a vehicle heading the wrong way on I-15 was finally stopped by a trooper who used his patrol car to sideswipe and disable the vehicle.
According to a news release from the UHP, dispatchers received a call around 2 a.m. about a vehicle going south in the northbound lanes on I-15 near mile marker 329.
A trooper who was south of that location performed a slowdown to alert northbound traffic. A second officer saw the vehicle hit the center barrier and then continue to travel the wrong way.
The trooper who was doing the slowdown observed the vehicle approaching and was able to hit it on the driver side rear panel, causing the vehicle to spin around and disabling it.
There were no injuries to the trooper or the wrong-way driver, who was arrested for DUI. His identity was not released.
