By Kevin Rector
The Baltimore Sun
HOWARD COUNTY, Md. — A Howard County police officer was injured while conducting a traffic stop on the side of Interstate 70 in Marriottsville late Monday night when an oncoming vehicle crashed into his stopped patrol vehicle, according to Howard County Police.
Police believe the driver of the oncoming vehicle may have fallen asleep at the wheel.
Pfc. Neil White, 38, was flown to Maryland Shock Trauma Center by a Maryland State Police medevac helicopter, where he was listed in “stable” condition, police said.
White, a 10-year veteran of the department, had pulled over a 2013 Ford Focus for a traffic violation on the westbound side of I-70 about 11:37 p.m., police said.
During the traffic stop, a 2005 Chevrolet pickup truck also headed westbound left the travel lanes and crashed into White’s patrol car, forcing it into the Focus, police said.
The driver of the pickup, Curt Michael Smith, 20, of the 100 block of Courier Court in Taneytown, was not injured. Police are investigating the possibility that Smith fell asleep at the wheel shortly before the collision occurred.
The driver of the Focus, Tammy Haldeman, 47, of Sparta, Wis., was not injured.
An investigation and clean-up of the collision closed westbound I-70 until about 1:30 a.m. Tuesday, police said.
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