Topeka, KS : 3 injured, including 2 KHP officers, after rollover crash on I-470 in Topeka on Monday afternoon, January 23, 2017

Three people, including two Kansas Highway Patrol troopers, were hospitalized Monday afternoon following a rollover crash that occurred during a traffic stop on Interstate 470 in southwest Topeka.

None of the injuries was believed to be life-threatening, said Kansas Highway Patrol Lt. Adam Winters at the scene.

The three-vehicle crash was reported about noon on eastbound I-470, just west of the Gage Boulevard overpass.

Winters said the crash happened during a traffic stop, as Kansas Highway Patrol officers had pulled over a black truck on the south shoulder of the highway.

One trooper was standing in the grass on the south side of the road with the driver of the truck, while the other trooper was standing on the passenger side of the truck, according to KHP’s crash log.

A dark-green Honda sport utility vehicle, also eastbound on I-470, went onto the south shoulder and slammed into the back of the Kansas Highway Patrol car.

The Honda didn’t pull over to the left lane to provide additional space for the law enforcement vehicle, as required by the state’s “Move Over” law, enacted in 2000.

After the Kansas Highway Patrol car was rear-ended, it hit the back of the truck and the trooper standing in the grass.

After striking the Kansas Highway Patrol car, the Honda came to a rest upside down, facing north in the eastbound lanes of I-470.

The black truck and the Kansas Highway Patrol car, meanwhile, came to a stop facing east in the eastbound lanes.

The Kansas Highway Patrol officers and one person from the Honda were transported to the hospital.

They were later identified on the agency’s crash log as troopers Tanner Blakesley, 24, of Topeka, and Christopher Herbel, 35, of Paxico. Teresa Hoff, 35, of Topeka, was the driver and only occupant of the Honda.

All were taken by American Medical Response ambulance to a local hospital. The two occupants of the truck weren’t injured.

In an email sent shortly before 5 p.m., Winters said both troopers had been released from the hospital.

He also said the investigation was still in an early stage, but officials will be looking into issuing citations as they go forward.

More than a dozen law enforcement vehicles were on scene investigating. Also on the scene were the Topeka Police Department and the Topeka Fire Department.

Alternate routes were recommended while crews investigated and cleared the scene, Kansas Department of Transportation officials said. Eastbound I-470 at Gage Boulevard was reopened to traffic at 3:30 p.m. Monday, according to KDOT.

Source :
3 injured, including 2 KHP officers, after rollover crash on I-470 in Topeka