On the Beat in the Bluegrass

The driver of a van at a Richmond Shell gas station was shot in the buttock after the van struck a Kentucky State Police trooper trying to serve a warrant early Thursday, state police said.

The man, who has not been identified, is being treated at University of Kentucky Hospital for injuries that aren’t considered life-threatening, authorities said. State police Detective Jasper White has been released from Pattie A. Clay Hospital in Richmond, where he was treated for a broken kneecap. He is now on sick leave.

White and Richmond Detective Rodney Tudor were en route to an apartment on Killarney Lane to assist other detectives with a search warrant for drug trafficking, state police Trooper Chris Lanham said.

They noticed a van related to the case parked at the Shell station near the apartment.

The officers approached the vehicle and began to order the driver to turn off the van and get out, Lanham said. Instead, the driver reached under the seat and accelerated.

The van hit White, and both officers began firing at the driver, Lanham said. The officers thought their lives were in danger, and it appeared they acted properly, he said.

“The vehicle is considered a deadly weapon,” Lanham said. He later said, “They didn’t know whether he was trying to reach for a weapon.”

The driver was leaning to the right, toward the passenger side, when he reached down, which exposed the buttock that was shot, Lanham said.

Tudor tried to get the driver’s door open as officers were giving commands, Lanham said. But Lanham said he doesn’t know whether the van door was open or the window was down when the man was shot.

White is a 30-year veteran of the state police. Tudor has been with the Richmond police department for 11 years.

The man was shot once, but it is not yet clear which officer shot him because the officers have similar weapons, Lanham said. Investigators were interviewing witnesses who were at the gas station and watching surveillance video.

Investigators also were interviewing several passengers inside the van, including a 14-year-old. Lanham said he did not know the relationship among those in the van.

After he was shot, the driver of the van drove to the same apartment to which the officers were traveling. But several officers were already in the area and took the driver into custody quickly.

Two men who ran from the van after it arrived at the apartment were also taken into custody and questioned, Lanham said.