ANDREA F. SIEGEL, SUN REPORTER
Copyright 2006 The Baltimore Sun Company
A Maryland State Police cruiser attempting a U-turn on Interstate 97 was struck by a Land Rover Discovery shortly after 8:30 a.m. yesterday, snarling morning rush-hour traffic on the highway and other roads in the Glen Burnie area.
Trooper Quinn Dobbins, 24, was taken by helicopter to Maryland Shock Trauma Center. He was treated for cuts and bruises and released, said state police Sgt. Russell Newell. The driver of the Land Rover, Dawn Robinson, 44, of Glen Burnie was taken to Baltimore Washington Medical Center. She was treated and released, according to a hospital spokeswoman.
Robinson’s vehicle broadsided the driver’s side of the cruiser in the southbound lanes near New Cut Road, Newell said.
Dobbins was responding to a motorist who reported that an irate driver was pursuing her on Route 2.
Dobbins activated his sirens and lights, and attempted to move from the far right lane to the far left lane of I-97 and make a U-turn through an opening in the median, Newell said.
Dobbins successfully cleared a tractor-trailer traveling in the center lane. But police suspect that the tractor-trailer blocked the views of both the trooper and Robinson, Newell said. An investigation into the collision began yesterday.
“A situation like this will be very thoroughly reviewed,” he said. “These incidents are looked at very closely.”
Dobbins, assigned to the Glen Burnie barracks, has been a trooper for 11 months, Newell said.
June 6, 2006