NEW MEXICO OFFICER HIT ON I-40 RECOVERING

An Albuquerque police officer is in and out of consciousness tonight after being hit by a car during a traffic stop on Interstate 40 Saturday.

Albuquerque Police Department Officer Jeffrey Abernathy is at UNM Hospital where his condition is reported to be satisfactory. An APD spokesman said he was up and communicating with family members.

Abernathy is highly sedated, however, and suffering from a fracture to the leg and skull. The skull fracture is causing swelling that has blurred his vision. The wreck happened on I-40 near 4th Street NW just before 5 p.m. Saturday in the westbound lanes.

Police said Abernathy pulled over 20 year old Joshua Frick, 20, for an alleged traffic violation and was giving him a ticket. That's when a pickup truck driven by Gladys Chacón, 26, hit the APD cruiser which struck Frick's car slamming it into Abernathy. The officer flew over the barrier into oncoming traffic and was knocked unconscious.

Investigators on the scene said motorists in the area saw Abernathy in the road and quickly stopped. Abernathy described the incident to an APD spokesman John Walsh earlier today as one of the most frightening experiences of his life.