Trooper injured in crash near Ritzville

A Washington State Patrol trooper was injured Sunday evening after his patrol car was rear-ended by a tractor-trailer south of Ritzville. The trooper, Dean Burt, was finishing up a traffic stop on northbound U.S. Highway 395 three miles south of Ritzville and was parked with his emergency lights flashing on a paved portion of the shoulder when the collision occurred about 5:45 p.m., said Trooper Troy Briggs. Burt was taken by ambulance to East Adams Rural Hospital in Ritzville and by helicopter to Sacred Heart Medical Center. He does not appear to have life-threatening injuries. His car was totaled. The driver of the semi-truck, whose name was not released Sunday night, was taken to the Ritzville hospital with minor injuries. After hitting Burt’s car, the truck went through the median and came to rest in a southbound lane of U.S. 395, Briggs said. Another trooper was pulled up next to Burt’s car on an unpaved part of the shoulder at the time of the crash, Briggs said. She was not injured and her car only suffered minor damage. Briggs said it’s unclear why the truck was driving on the shoulder. The incident remains under investigation, he said.