Photo credit: KSL TV
(This story has been updated to report the condition of the injured trooper.)
SALT LAKE CITY — A trooper with the Utah Highway Patrol injured in the line of duty on Tuesday morning is expected to make a full recovery.
The UHP says Cpl. S. Myer jumped from a moving semi-truck after a driver refused to stop for a fuel spill that had closed an onramp.
UHP Cpl. Andrew Battenfield said troopers had closed the SB I-215 onramp from California Ave. after reports of the fuel spill came in. The lanes were blocked by cones and the trooper’s truck.
“A semi-truck came through that closure and tried to go up the ramp. The trooper stopped that truck, got up on the running boards to talk to the driver. After a while, the driver refused to comply with the trooper’s orders and he went around the spill and up the ramp and the trooper ultimately had to jump off the running boards of the truck as the truck was picking up speed,” Battenfield said.
Battenfield said the trooper indicated feeling pain in both his leg and his back after jumping from the moving semi. They took him to the hospital to check that out.
“You need to pay attention when a law enforcement officer is giving you directions,” Battenfield said.
“This is a time in our country where we’re not paying a lot of attention to police officers. We’re out here to help you and to save lives. In this situation, there was a road hazard ahead of that truck and he wasn’t willing to stop for the officer and he wasn’t willing to stop for the closed lane. We’re still out here to help you and we’re on the public’s side,” Battenfield added.