Troopers discover medical emergency while investigating hit and run

PALMER — Monday afternoon traffic was interrupted briefly when a white Dodge pickup swerved into oncoming lanes of traffic.

Just after 5 p.m., Alaska State Trooper Bret Ledford was doing paperwork near the intersection of the Palmer-Wasilla Highway and Trunk Road when a hit and run was called in just up the road. Ledford maneuvered his squad car behind the vehicle when the truck went into oncoming lane of westbound traffic on Trunk Road. The driver of the Dodge truck then drove up the embankment and stopped on the bike path as Ledford used a driving technique to block the truck in.

“We assessed and we realized that it was a medical emergency and treated it as such,” Ledford said.

The man was taken to Mat-Su Regional Medical Center and the hit and run is still under investigation.