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An injured trooper hurt during a traffic stop, wants to remind motorists to drive safe this Memorial Day weekend.
Trooper Justin Mahalik was injured during a traffic stop on I-66 around 12:45 a.m. on April 30th. He suffered severe injuries a car slammed into the back of his patrol car. He managed to get out of his vehicle and pull the violator of the traffic stop, who was seated inside his patrol car, out of the car before the car was consumed by fire.
"I think that I'm pretty fortunate as opposed to what we're looking at here." It's the first time Mahalik saw the burned out cruiser from which he narrowly escaped.
When the cruiser burst into flames, in it was a man who trooper Mahalik has pulled over. "I got out of the vehicle and made my way around to the backside of the vehicle because at that time he was unconscious. I needed to take him our of the car and remove him, both of us, so we didn't burn with the car."
Mahalik spent three days in the hospital. He is recovering from two fractured vertebrae and a broken rib.
At the Memorial Day Traffic Safety Event, his boss called him courageous and valiant. "It's amazing, amazing that anybody got out of that car, much less got out of that car and pulled another passenger to safety.
As for Mahalik, he is looking forward to getting married and getting back to work. Foremost in his mind though, is his appreciation for being alive. "I'm grateful. I'm very grateful. I'm grateful to be here. Someone was watching over us that day."
Within the last four weeks, two Virginia State troopers have been struck and injured while conducting traffic stops along I-66 and I-81. According to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, more than 151 police officers have been killed in traffic stops since 1997.
Emergency responders urge motorists to put safety first by sharing the road, buckling up, driving drug and alcohol free, avoiding distractions and obeying speed limits. The driver who hit Trooper Mahalik's cruiser was charged with driving under the influence.
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