I-26 Wreck Sends 2 CPD Officers to Hospital

Two Charleston Police officers were injured and transported an area hospital after an 18-wheeler sideswiped their cruiser Monday morning, according to a CPD statement.

The officers had stopped to assist a disabled propane tanker on the ramp from I-26 onto the Ravenel Bridge at 9:30 a.m. Monday. The Charleston Fire Department and the State Highway Emergency Program also sent vehicles to assist the tanker.

As the officers arrived on scene an 18-wheeler that entered the ramp behind them sideswiped another car, rear-ended the SHEP truck and broad sided the police cruiser, according to a statment from Public Information Officer Charles Francis. Fire personnel pulled one of the officers from the cruiser immediately and had to cut into the vehicle to remove the other officer.

Both officers were transported to an area hospital. Both had been released from the hospital as of 1:15 p.m.

The driver and a passenger in the 18-wheeler were also taken to the hospital to be checked out, Francis said.

The I-26 ramp to the Ravenel Bridge re-opened to traffic around 2:45 p.m.

South Carolina Highway Patrol and the State Transport Police are investigating the collision.