Trooper killed in crash was father of six; might have been chasing motorcycle
From Tricia Bishop and Scott Calvert:
An on-duty Maryland State Trooper who might have been pursuing a speeding motorcycle was killed early Saturday in a crash on Interstate 95 in Howard County, according to police, who said the cruiser slammed into the back of a tractor trailer.
Police identified the trooper as Shaft S. Hunter, 39, an 11-year veteran and the father of six. The incident occurred about 2:40 a.m. on the highway shoulder south of Route 32. The trooper was pronounced dead on the scene.
A witness told police that a marked cruiser had been pursuing a fast-moving motorcycle shortly before Hunter’s car plowed into the truck. While Hunter had not radioed to his barrack that he was pursuing the motorcycle, the police statement said “that is not unusual when a trooper is in the initial moments of a traffic stop.”
Police said Hunter had been wearing his seatbelt.
The driver of the tractor trailer, Albert Sandino, 46 of Covina, Calif., told police he was headed from Aberdeen to Virginia with a load of household bleach when he pulled over to check for directions to his destination. Sandino was not injured.
The crash occurred near a rest area entrance ramp. Southbound lanes of I-95 at Route 32 were closed for several hours.
For more details:
Col. Terrence Sheridan, the superintendent of the Maryland State Police, called Hunter “an outstanding trooper who was known for his dedication to duty.”
“He died while working to keep our highways safe,” Sheridan said in a statement. “He will be greatly missed by his family and his fellow troopers at the Waterloo Barrack and throughout the Maryland State Police.”
Gov. Martin O’Malley issued a statement saying the tragedy “reminds us of the dangers associated with law enforcement and the risks they take on a daily basis to keep our state safe. My thoughts and prayers, and those of all Marylanders, are with the Hunter family on this difficult day.”
Hunter leaves six children ages 4 to 19. Funeral arrangements were incomplete late Saturday morning.
A native of Bridgeport, Conn., Hunter majored in criminal justice at St. Augustine College in Raleigh, N.C. He then joined the U.S. Marine Corps, serving from 1994 to 2000. He was honorably discharged with the rank of first lieutenant.
The state police recruited him out of the Marine Corps. He was elected president of the 114th Trooper Candidate Class and spoke at his academy class graduation in June 2000.
In 2004, Hunter made a traffic stop on I-95 that led to the discovery of $500,000 worth of heroin. After Hunter pulled over a speeding Mitsubishi, he sought and received the driver’s permission to search the vehicle. Hunter noticed loose screws around the bottom of the dashboard, according to a Baltimore Sun story. He removed panels and discovered two packages later found to contain three-quarters of a kilogram of heroin.
The Colombian driver, Alberto Puente, was sentenced to five years in prison.
Hunter is the 43rd Maryland trooper to die in the line of duty since 1921, and the sixth since 2000. Here are summaries of the most recent fatalities:
June 11, 2010: Trooper Wesley Brown, 24, was working a second job providing security at a restaurant in Prince George's County when a customer he had earlier escorted off the premises returned and shot him.
Sept. 28, 2008: A state police MedEvac helicopter crashed as it attempted to approach Andrews Air Force Base with two victims of a car accident aboard. The crash killed pilot Stephen H. Bunker, a retired state police corporal, and Trooper Mickey C. Lippy, a paramedic, as well as emergency medical technician Tonya Mallard and patient Ashley J. Younger. The other patient, Jordan Wells, was severely injured.
May 9, 2004: Trooper Anthony Jones, 50, was assisting at an accident scene on U.S. 50 near Bowie when he was struck and killed by a van whose driver was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol.
Oct. 30, 2000: Trooper Edward M. Toatley, 37, was fatally shot in Northeast Washington while trying to negotiate an undercover drug buy.
Categories: Breaking news, Howard County
Comments
Another guardian angel lost. When are the states of Maryland and Virginia either going to ban these "Rice racers" that call themselves recreation motorcycles, from public roads? These idiots race nightly after midnight on just about all the interstates. You can hear the whine of the high speed bikes late at night. Please devise better methods to stop and catch these bastards before they kill themselves of others.
Posted by: W. Spaeth | May 21, 2011 11:51 AM
While it is sad to hear of the troopers death, it seems that a department directive may have been violated, as I recall reading that troopers were NOT to engage in "High Speed Pursuit" of speeding motorcyclists! Such pursuit cases are more likely to result in someone getting seriously injured or killed than ignoring the motorcyclist. Pursued motorcyclist, on machines capable of greater speeds and rates of acceleration than police cars, often results in the motorcyclist, at speeds that can exceed 200 mph, trying to elude the officer by deliberately ducking into a traffic siyuation to TRAP the officer, with his larger vehicle, into a space that is too small!--Many motorcycles can accelerate from a stop to 100 mph in around 6 or 7 seconds! (Zero to 60 in less than 3 seconds) Often, either one of the parties of such pursuits crashes, or causes other innocent motorists to be involved in an accident. Left alone, the motorcyclist is more likely to eventually either kill himself, or tire of such stupid activity. (I am a motorcyclist of 46 years and over 500,000 miles experience, haven ridden in 3 countries, and dozens of motorcycles!)
Posted by: Robert Curry | May 22, 2011 6:41 AM
such a shame :( I only have two things to say.
1) chasing a motorcycle is just dumb. It doesn't matter if it's a cruiser that can barley do 90mph or a sport bike that can hit 180+mph. State police have cameras in their cars, you take a photo of the license plate and you deal with the rider later.
2) Motorcyclists that want to go this fast? Take it to the track. http://www.motorcyclexcitement.com http://www.nesba.com http://www.teampromotion.com all provide excellent places to ride your motorcycle as fast as you want in a safe environment.
I ride my sport bike only on the race track as well as on the drag strip and choose to not ride it on the road. These bikes are very safe for those who choose to ride them safely. Motorcyclists run because they know if they get caught they'll face serious jail time. In addition, if there is a group of 10 motorcyclists and the cop turns on his lights they all scatter. If any of those bikers does the right thing and pulls over the cops often stick every infraction that every motorcyclists made on that single guy. So what is the incentive for them to pull over? If you pull over you'll get in just as much trouble as if you didn't. If the police start implementing a better policy on how to handle this type of situation maybe more motorcyclists would pull over, but till that happens that bike will go from 60mph to 150mph in about 1.5 seconds because everyone on a sport bike knows they can outrun any cruiser especially in heavy traffic (which is scary if you think about it).
So Mr. Police officer, please use that camera you have and meet us at our house when we get home, lock us up then or stop throwing the book at those that do the right thing and pull over, because people won't pull over if you continue to toss the book at them.
Posted by: Phillip | May 23, 2011 3:15 PM