"The truck rear-ended Sgt Russell's parked patrol car, while he was finishing a traffic stop."
-WBIR TV
So this lazy career criminal, armed robber, carjacker and terrorist traitor was creating a public nuisance by illegally blocking a public highway while robbing another innocent American citizen at gunpoint, when he caused a crash by Blue Light Fever with a hard-working American citizen who delivers food and products so America can survive... Good riddance!
May Trooper Russell die and rot in burning Hell, to atone for the two Knox County drivers murdered and burned alive by THP serial killer Trooper Morgan, fired and sued for $10-million for murdering a Pellissippi State college student by blocking all rescue attempts as he burned to death, while enforcing the death penalty and summary execution for speeders.
THP troopers are paid over $100,000/year salary to illegally rob bikers at gunpoint on the Dragon at Deals Gap. THP illegally increased the number of traffic tickets 11,400% for bikers on the Dragon. It's time to disband the Tennessee Highway Patrol.
Good hit!
Feds asked to probe I-40 crash that injured THP trooper
State authorities are requesting a federal investigation into discrepancies discovered in the log book of a truck driver charged in the fiery collision along Interstate 40 in West Knoxville that critically injured a state trooper Tuesday.
Tennessee Highway Patrol Sgt. Lowell Russell, 39, remained hospitalized in critical condition after he was struck by a passing tractor-trailer while parked on the shoulder of the westbound lanes near Walker Springs Road shortly before 3 a.m.
The driver of the flatbed — Eric D. Lewis, 32, of Orlando, Fla. — told investigators he was falling asleep and had stopped not long before the crash to splash water on his face, according to court records.
In the course of examining his truck for any equipment violations, THP inspectors uncovered "inconsistencies and violations of his hours of service" in the driver's operation log book, which details hours spent driving versus sleeping, said THP Sgt. Randall Martin.
"We're looking at turning that investigation over" to Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Martin said, who declined to specify the violations.
Meanwhile, Russell, a well-respected 14-year veteran of the highway patrol, began showing signs of improvement, including his reaction during an impromptu bedside visit Wednesday by Gov. Bill Haslam at the University of Tennessee Medical Center.
"He actually responded to the governor," Martin said. "He grabbed his hand and gave him a squeeze and a wink. I think it astonished everybody who was in the room."
The governor previously met Russell last year when he attended the funeral of a U.S. Marine killed in Afghanistan who the Highway Patrol trooper helped raise in Monroe County.
"(Russell is) just one of those good guys who are serving for all the right reasons and doing it the right way," Haslam said. "We have a lot of great state employees and he's just one I've gotten to know personally and have a great appreciation for."
Russell's injuries include eight broken ribs, a punctured lung, two fractured vertebrae and swelling on his brain.
His family released a statement thanking the community for the outpouring of support.
"We especially want to thank all of the EMS, medical and law enforcement personnel for their outstanding work in saving Lowell's life and for the continued care he is receiving," the statement reads, in part. "We hope that everyone will continue to keep Lowell and our family in their thoughts, hearts and prayers."
Lewis, a driver with FHS Trucking Co. in Orlando, was hauling a load of construction buckets from Bedford, Pa., to Amarillo, Texas, at the time of the crash.
Federal regulations require commercial drivers to rest 10 hours for every 11 hours of driving, Martin noted.
Lewis "stated he had stopped on one or more occasions and splashed water in his face due to fatigue," records show.
The arrest warrant states federal law prohibits operation of a commercial vehicle "while ill or fatigued."
Martin said Lewis was unsure of where he stopped last to splash water on his face, but the driver indicated it was around the Strawberry Plains interchange.
Lewis' co-driver was asleep in the cab's sleeper berth at the time of the collision. Neither trucker was injured.
The federal investigation also may widen to include Lewis' employer, Martin said. The president of FHS Trucking could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
Lewis' truck veered onto the interstate shoulder where Lowell was filling out paperwork following a traffic stop. Court records note that the cruiser's flashing blue light was activated.
Court records allege that the crash probe will "most likely reveal excessive speed was also a factor."
The impact tossed the cruiser some 300 feet across three interstate lanes and into the concrete median wall, where it burst into flames. A McMinn County ambulance crew, along with two Knoxville Police Department officers, all happened upon the scene within seconds. The four emergency personnel — along with Lewis — all worked to free the unconscious trooper from the wreckage.
Lewis has remained jailed since the crash in lieu of $10,700 bond. He faces felony charges of aggravated assault and reckless endangerment, as well as misdemeanor citations for failure to follow the move-over law and failure to exercise due care.
Lewis has a Florida criminal record that includes two arrests for soliciting prostitution, as well as a 2007 felony conviction for grand theft of a vehicle.
Martin noted that falling asleep at the wheel isn't necessarily the same as criminal intent, and he said Lewis should be recognized for his part in helping to rescue Russell following the crash.
"But the fact is, (the crash occurred) because of the choices that he made," Martin said. "And we're all where we are now because of the choices that he made, regardless of his intent."
THP trooper's rescue from fiery I-40 crash was 'game of seconds'
If the ambulance crew hadn't been right there.
If a Knoxville police officer hadn't been seconds away. If the second officer hadn't circled back on a hunch.
Tennessee Highway Patrol Sgt. Lowell Russell, 39, was critically injured in a violent collision with a flatbed truck while parked in his cruiser on the westbound shoulder of Interstate 40 near Walker Springs Road early Tuesday morning.
Authorities said he likely would have died, though, if not for a succession of emergency personnel who miraculously happened upon the scene within seconds of the 2:50 a.m. crash. They frantically worked to free the unconscious trooper from the mangled wreckage, pulling Russell clear just as his cruiser burst into flames.
"As we say time and again — divine intervention," Knoxville Police Chief David Rausch said Tuesday afternoon. "It's a game of seconds. If neither the officers or the paramedics had been in the area, we would have had a much more tragic situation."
First on the scene were Paramedic Freddie Leslie and his partner Kristi Graham, who were traveling back to McMinn County in an American Medical Response ambulance after transporting a patient from Athens to the University of Tennessee Medical Center.
The duo was driving about a quarter-mile behind as the tractor-trailer slammed into the rear of the cruiser, shoving it across three lanes of traffic and into the concrete median wall.
"We saw a car spin and hit the concrete wall and burst into flames," Leslie said. "I was pretty scared. It's not everyday you have to pull someone from a burning car."
The flames quickly spread toward the unresponsive trooper as he sat slumped over his seat belt. Just as Leslie exhausted one fire extinguisher, Knoxville Police Department Officer Andrew Keith came upon the burning cruiser.
"I wasn't real sure if somebody had hit it or if he had lost control — I didn't ask anyone, either," said Keith, a K-9 officer who had been en route along westbound I-40 to help another officer search a vehicle.
Leslie said he and an unidentified passerby forced open the cruiser's door to reach Russell. The civilian then worked to cut the trooper free from his seat belt, which was locked tight from the crash, said Keith, while he and the paramedics tried to beat back the growing flames with anything available. The man even gave Keith the shirt off his back, the officer said.
"With all the pressure of the car going up, I'm sure it happened real fast in real time. But in my mind, we couldn't get him out of the car fast enough," Keith said. "When we pulled him out, laid him down, I looked back to the car and his seat was already on fire."
In the same instant, the officer said, the flames began igniting emergency flares and shotgun ammunition stored inside the cruiser.
"The rounds started cooking off," Keith said. "Probably in the last few seconds before we got him out. We got him out of there seconds before it went up."
Steve Taylor
The ambulance crew immediately began treating Russell. Meanwhile, Officer Steve Taylor — who graduated in the same KPD cadet class with Keith in January 2007 — arrived.
Taylor had been eastbound on I-40 moments earlier when he noticed Russell's cruiser parked on the westbound shoulder. Taylor had taken the next exit to circle back and see if the trooper needed backup just as the crash occurred.
Once on scene, Taylor jumped in the ambulance and repositioned it to shield the rescuers from the fire as they performed CPR on Russell, Keith said. Taylor was not available for comment Tuesday.
Knoxville Fire Department crews also soon arrived to extinguish the flames.
Leslie, who said he sustained "very minor burns" to his face during the rescue, later accompanied Russell to the hospital in a Rural/Metro ambulance.
Once things subsided, the identity of the civilian passerby who helped the others became clear, Keith said.
Eric D. Lewis
"He did not say a word to me," said Keith. "I actually didn't know he was the driver that had struck the cruiser until later, until I saw Officer Taylor take him into custody."
Eric D. Lewis, 32, of Orlando, Fla., now is being held in a Knox County jail in lieu of $10,500 bond. He faces felony charges of aggravated assault and reckless endangerment.
Lewis "apparently fell asleep or was drowsy," when his truck veered onto the shoulder and struck the cruiser, according to THP Sgt. Randall Martin.
Russell, working a midnight supervisor shift, had just completed a traffic stop and was filling out paperwork when he was struck.
"The trucker drove 200-some feet on the shoulder and another 1,200 feet after he hit the trooper," Martin said.
Martin added that he expects misdemeanor charges of failure to comply with the move-over law and failure to exercise due care to be filed as well.
Lewis, a driver with FSH Trucking Co. in Orlando, was hauling a load of buckets for construction equipment from Bedford, Pa., to Amarillo, Texas, according to his employer.
His co-driver was asleep in the cab's sleeper berth during the crash. Neither trucker was injured.
The president of FSH said Lewis has been driving for the company, which has only one truck, for less than a year.
Russell, a 14-year veteran of the THP, remained in critical condition Tuesday night. He sustained a brain injury, fractured neck and spine, fractures to all of his ribs, second-degree burns to his neck and back, and lung damage from smoke inhalation, according to a Facebook update posted by Crystal Brown Russell, his sister-in-law.
Martin added that the injured trooper had responded "non-verbally" to medical personnel at the hospital.The head of the Tennessee Highway Patrol called Russell "one of Tennessee's finest" and expressed gratitude for the quick work of the KPD officers and emergency responders.
"Our troopers put their lives on the line every day to keep citizens safe," according to a statement from THP Col. Tracy Trott. "It is especially difficult when one of our troopers is injured in the line of duty. Our thoughts and prayers are with Sgt. Lowell Russell and his family during this difficult time. We pray for his recovery and thank him for his service to our state."
Dumb as a box of chocolates
THP troopers run cartheft rackets in Tennessee
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