Watch CBS News

Rammed By Pickup, Cop Survives

A sheriff's deputy helping a woman whose car was stuck in a ditch along a busy highway was slammed by a pickup truck, but escaped with only minor injuries.

Bridgette Bornstein of WCCO-TV in Minneapolis reports that conditions were wet when the woman's vehicle slid off the road. Then, the pickup barreled onto the scene, nicking the edge of the state patrol car, grazing the woman, and ramming right into Ramsey County Deputy Glen Pothen, 35.

It was

by a state patrol vehicle.

The man driving the pickup, Va Meng Vang, tells Bornstein he saw the flashing lights, but because the road curved, he didn't have much notice. He tried to veer out of the way, but lost control.

"It was so slippery, so my truck slides down (into a ditch where Pothen and the woman he was assisting were standing)," Meng Vang says. "I tried to brake in my truck and I tried to move to the left lane."

It was unclear whether he would face charges, though he says his truck was seized.

"Anyone that watches that tape will say, 'Why is he alive?'" remarked Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher.Fletcher says he can't believe Pothen was out of the hospital just a few hours after the incident.

Pothen has some back injuries, but nothing life-threatening, Bornstein adds.

"He's a little sore, but he's doing great," Fletcher told co-anchor Julie Chen on The Early Show Thursday. "It's miraculous that nothing was broken. The CAT scan showed he has no serious injuries."

"In 28 years, I've never seen anything like it," Pothen continued. "The vehicle was traveling at about 50 miles per hour. We know that it hit the rear of the trooper's car and that slowed it down from the 55 that it was going. How he took that direct impact and survived it is beyond me. Most of us thought he would be dead. I've seen many accidents that were less impacting than that, and people suffered very serious injuries.

How could Pothen have been so fortunate?

"Had it not struck the front of woman's vehicle, we suspect it would have continued on a path and rolled over him," Fletcher said. "That slight impact and the front left corner of her vehicle caused the striking vehicle to go about ten degrees to the left thereby not rolling over him.

"I don't think anyone who watched that tape can describe it as anything but a miracle. …We're all still amazed. We think that the body that was thrown into that ditch has to be a different one that actually walked out of the hospital."

"(Pothen) himself didn't realize he had taken the impact directly," Fletcher poined out. "In fact, we took a copy of the tape to him and he was shocked as well that it had gone right through him."

The Minnesota State Patrol released the video to remind drivers that it is state law to slow down and move over to other lanes of traffic when they see law enforcement officers along highways.

Fletcher emphasizes traffic stops are the leading cause of death for law enforcers across the country, not only because of incidents like this one, but also because of stopped drivers who assault officers.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.