
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, January 4, 1994                   TAG: 9401040218
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

HIT-AND-RUN DRIVER STRIKES STATE TROOPER

A hit-and-run driver struck a Virginia state trooper after sideswiping his parked patrol car Monday morning on southbound Interstate 81 near Lexington.

Trooper P.C. Gardner suffered a hip injury. He was treated at Stonewall Jackson Hospital in Lexington and released.

Sgt. L.B. Jarvis said Gardner had stopped a car for a traffic violation when he was struck shortly after 5 a.m.

The hit-and-run vehicle, a red and white Ford Ranger pickup truck, crashed into the left side of Gardner's patrol car, which was parked several feet behind the car he had stopped.

"His car took the brunt of the crash," Jarvis said. "If not, it would have probably killed him."

The occupants of the stopped car provided police with a description of the hit-and-run vehicle. They could not distinguish the color of the license plate or its number.

State police ask that anyone having information call 703-291-2548 or 800-542-5959.

by CNB