Maine State Trooper Cruiser Hit by Vehicle During Traffic Stop

The trooper was sitting in his cruiser when it was hit yesterday during a traffic stop in Turner.

According to Maine Public Safety Spokesman Steve McCausland, the Trooper escaped injury and there was minor damage to his cruiser after he and his vehicle were sideswiped by a van.  The driver of the van was cited for failing to move over for an emergency vehicle.

Trooper Connor Willard was at roadside with the cruiser’s emergency lights turned on as he was conducting a traffic stop of a car along Route 4.  As the trooper was inside the cruiser completing paperwork, he heard the impact of a minivan as it scraped alongside his cruiser.

The impact tore the van’s passenger side mirror off.  The occupants of the van and the car the trooper had stopped were not injured.

The name of the van’s driver was not immediately available. Maine State law requires motorists to slow down and move over for emergency vehicles at roadside where emergency lights have been activated and that includes police, fire, ambulance and tow trucks.