Patrol vehicle collides with garbage truck, killing trooper

Investigators examine the scene where a garbage truck and a Pennsylvania state trooper vehicle collided just before the fork of Route 711 and 271 in Ligonier Township, Pa., Friday, July 14, 2017. A state trooper died and another was injured in the crash. The conditions of the injured trooper and the garbage truck driver were not immediately known (Shane Dunlap/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review via AP) Investigators examine the scene where a garbage truck and a Pennsylvania state trooper vehicle collided just before the fork of Route 711 and 271 in Ligonier Township, Pa., Friday, July 14, 2017. A state trooper died and another was injured in the crash. The conditions of the injured trooper and the garbage truck driver were not immediately known (Shane Dunlap/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review via AP)

By Associated Press July 14, 2017 2 min read

LIGONIER, Pa. (AP) – A marked police vehicle on routine patrol collided with a garbage truck early Friday, killing one state trooper and injuring a second.

The crash occurred at around 2:20 a.m. as Trooper Michael P. Stewart was driving with a partner in the vehicle on Route 711, just outside Ligonier, in western Pennsylvania, state police said.

Stewart’s partner suffered a concussion, and the McInchok Sanitation garbage truck driver wasn’t hurt, said state police spokesman Trooper Stephen Limani.

He described Stewart as a great trooper and “a big man with an even bigger heart, and a bigger personality that went with it. He was extremely fun to be around, very charismatic.”

Investigators are examining the police vehicle and garbage truck, working to reconstruct the collision and seeking any video from a nearby gas station.