PIERRE, (KCCR) — A South Dakota Highway Patrol trooper used a technique to end pursuits to stop a wrong-way driver on Interstate 90 from causing a major crash. Department of Public Safety Communications Director Brad Reiners says a trooper on duty noticed a 2014 Chevy Silverado pickup traveling west in the eastbound lanes of I-90 near mile marker 168 in Jackson County, five miles east of Belvidere. The trooper engaged the vehicles lights and sirens and pursued the vehicle, tracking it from the adjacent westbound passing lane, hoping to warn oncoming drivers and stopping the pickup. The trooper eventually crossed the median, intending to make contact with the pickup to stop it. The trooper managed to get in front of the pickup and braked, trying to stop the truck. The pickup rear-ended the trooper and continued to travel in the wrong direction. The trooper used the precision immobilization technique or PIT maneuver to force the truck into the median where it stopped. Charges are pending against the 63-year-old male driver from Midland. The driver of the pickup was not injured. The trooper sustained minor injuries.
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