FUND TO HELP FAMILY OF INJURED VIRGINIA STATE POLICE TROOPER

K.S. Chapman was injured when a truck ran into the back of his patrol car as he was finishing a traffic stop. A Virginia State Police trooper struck by a pickup truck Friday night remained in critical condition yesterday. A fellow trooper has started a relief fund to help his family with expenses.

Trooper K.S. Chapman, 30, was injured when a truck ran into the back of his patrol car as he was finishing a traffic stop along southbound Interstate 81 at Chilhowie. The driver of the truck was charged with driving under the influence, according to state police.

Chapman has a wife and two small children: a baby boy and a girl described as a toddler. Yesterday, state police Sgt. Michael Conroy said anyone wishing to help the family by contributing to the Trooper Kris Chapman Relief Fund may send checks to the fund at Bank of Marion Chilhowie Branch, P.O. Box 1560, Chilhowie, VA 24319, or call (276) 646-3900.

According to police, Chapman was sitting in his marked 2006 Ford Crown Victoria just after 11 p.m. Friday, with the car's emergency lights activated, when a Ford F-150 truck driven by Barry Dean Marshall II, 32, of Abingdon slammed into the car. The impact of the crash forced the trooper's car across the interstate and off the shoulder.

Chapman was taken by helicopter to the Bristol Regional Medical Center where he was put in the intensive-care unit in critical condition. Conroy said the family has not authorized him to say more than that. Marshall was taken by ambulance to Smyth County Community Hospital and treated for minor injuries. The crash is still under investigation.