OHP Trooper Injured While Making U-Turn

PERRY, Okla. (AP) -- A state trooper was injured Monday when his vehicle was hit from behind while he attempted a U-turn on the Cimarron Turnpike.<br/><br/>Trooper Bruce Brooks, 58, was eastbound on the

Monday, December 11th 2006, 4:06 pm

By: News On 6

PERRY, Okla. (AP) -- A state trooper was injured Monday when his vehicle was hit from behind while he attempted a U-turn on the Cimarron Turnpike.

Trooper Bruce Brooks, 58, was eastbound on the turnpike about 10:45 a.m. Monday when he turned on his lights and sirens and began to make a U-turn to catch a speeding vehicle in the westbound lanes, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol reported.

As he began the U-turn, his vehicle was hit from behind by a 1999 Ford pickup driven by Darren Clonts, 24, of Blackwell. Clonts wasn't injured, and Brooks sought treatment for a shoulder injury, the OHP reported.

The accident was similar to a double-fatality crash Oct. 1 on Interstate 44 that killed a state trooper and a truck driver. In that crash, Trooper William McClendon was attempting a U-turn in a turnabout on the interstate when his cruiser was struck by a tractor-trailer driven by 25-year-old Hussein Haji-ege Osman.

An OHP report later determined McClendon made an improper U-turn that contributed to the collision.