An Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper was injured Friday morning after a motorist struck him while he was outside his cruiser conducting a traffic stop in Munson Township.
The crash occurred shortly before 11 a.m. on U.S. 322, between Auburn and Bass Lake roads.
According to an administrator with the state patrol’s Chardon post, trooper Jim Smith, a sergeant in the Chardon post, had pulled over a female motorist in the eastbound lane of U.S. 322 and had exited his vehicle.
As the trooper was standing outside the window of the vehicle he stopped, a third car, driven by an elderly man, slammed into the driver’s side rear of the cruiser.
The third car continued its direction of travel, striking the trooper and throwing him airborne into a ditch.
Rescue squads from Munson and Chester townships, and the City of Chardon responded to the scene. Emergency personnel called for a medical helicopter, but it was unable to take off due to dense fog in the area.
The trooper was transported to Hillcrest Hospital in Mayfield Heights with injuries. The female driver of the stopped vehicle was transported to University Hospitals Geauga Medical Center. The driver of the third car refused treatment at the scene of the crash.
According to the Chardon post, the sergeant is expected to be discharged with “bumps and bruises” among other injuries. Smith recently returned to duty following shoulder surgery.
U.S. Route 322 was closed for nearly three and a half hours, until 2:30 p.m. Friday, as the state patrol investigated the accident.