Trooper Injured In Chain-Reaction Crash Near Chappell

(KFOR NEWS January 14, 2021) 300 miles west of Lincoln, a Nebraska State Trooper was injured Wednesday morning when his patrol vehicle was involved in a chain-reaction crash on Interstate 80.

The trooper responded to the crash of a truck-tractor/semi-trailer on an I-80 overpass. The driver of the semi was taken to a hospital in Julesburg, Colorado with minor injuries.

While state road crews and NSP continued investigating the crash, a pickup pulling a trailer lost control, hitting a NDOT vehicle parked on the shoulder. That collision caused a chain-reaction of multiple NDOT vehicles, eventually hitting the trooper’s patrol vehicle…with the trooper inside. The trooper sustained what are believed to be minor injuries, but was taken to a hospital in Julesburg for medical clearance. The trooper has since been released from the hospital.

None of the NDOT vehicles were occupied at the time of the crash and no NDOT personnel were injured. There were no other injuries involved in the second crash.

The Deuel County Sheriff’s Office is conducting the crash investigation. Eastbound Interstate 80 was closed in the area for approximately two hours.