FedEx Semi Truck Hits Ohio Highway Patrol Trooper
May 10th, 2010 | 
Author: MONTPELIER, OH – A Ohio Highway Patrol trooper was injured Thursday morning, April 29, 2010, when he was hit by a FedEx semi truck in Williams County, OH. The truck accident happened while the trooper was conducting a traffic stop on the Ohio Turnpike near the city of Montpelier. The area is about 13 miles east of the Indiana border in the far northwest corner of the state, 60 miles west of Toledo, OH and 55 miles northeast of Fort Wayne, IN.
The FedEx truck first hit the trooper’s vehicle, and then the cruiser plowed into the minivan, hitting Trooper Alexander and throwing him about 70 feet over the highway guardrail.
On Thursday morning Trooper Tommy Alexander was working on the Ohio Turnpike during the morning commute. Trooper Alexander is 41 years old from Springfield Township and has been with the Ohio Highway Patrol since 1993.
At about 8:30 a.m. Trooper Alexander had pulled over a minivan for a traffic violation and was talking to the driver, 44 year old Carol Thomas of Toledo. The trooper’s cruiser was parked behind the minivan in the westbound shoulder of the turnpike near mile marker 13 and the exit for Bryan. The police vehicle had its flashing lights on at the time. Trooper Alexander was standing between the van and a guardrail and as he spoke with the driver a westbound FedEx semi trailer truck slammed into the police cruiser and the minivan.
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The FedEx truck first hit the trooper’s vehicle, and then the cruiser plowed into the minivan, hitting Trooper Alexander and throwing him about 70 feet over the highway guardrail. The 18 wheeler then crashed through the guardrail and rolled over into a ditch at the side of the turnpike. The impact of the truck accident caused considerable damage to the police cruiser and the minivan.
Trooper Alexander would later say that he was retrieving Ms. Thomas’ driver’s license when he “heard tires hitting the rumble strips and saw a shadow coming toward him”.
The FedEx truck driver, 53 year old Patricia Chapman of Murchison, Texas, said she was looking “over her left shoulder” and apparently did not see the stopped police cruiser until it was too late to avoid a collision.
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Emergency personnel rushed to the truck accident scene and treated Trooper Alexander at the site before he was medically airlifted by LifeFlight to the University of Toledo Medical Center. According to hospital officials he suffered a shoulder injury and a laceration to his head. As of Thursday night he was listed in fair condition at the hospital.
The driver of the minivan, Ms. Thomas, was shaken up by the truck accident. EMTs treated her at the site and then transported her to nearby Montpelier Hospital.
The truck driver Ms. Chapman and her passenger, 34 year old Jiri Siuda of Frisco, TX, were not injured in the collision.
The truck driver has been charged with “Failure to Drive Within Marked Lanes on an Expressway”, “Failure to Slow Down”, and “Failure to Change Lanes for an Emergency Vehicle”.
According to Ohio Highway Patrol officials Trooper Alexander was following proper procedure by approaching the stopped minivan on the right side, out of the way of traffic.
The truck accident is still under investigation.
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