CROSS LANES, W.Va. — A Hurricane city police officer is recovering after his cruiser was involved in a crash in Kanawha County early Monday morning.
Hurricane Mayor Scott Edwards identified the officer as Ritchie Poe.
“He’s doing very well, he’s sore all over, but doing very well,” Edward said. “We’re thankful he’s doing well and really thankful he had his seat belt on. He would have been in really bad shape if not dead if he hadn’t had that seat belt on.”
The wreck happened in the westbound lanes of Interstate 64 near the Cross Lanes exit at just before 6 a.m. The cruiser rolled several times and Poe was entrapped in the wreckage. He was cut out about 25 minutes later.
The cruiser was a Dodge Durango and was actually a backup vehicle on the Hurricane force. Officer Poe’s regular patrol vehicle was in the shop. Edwards said the cruiser was totaled in the wreck.
Ironically while many accidents were reported due to icy conditions, Poe’s wreck is actually blamed on the rain.
“He hit some water and hydroplaned,” Edwards said. “At that point he ran off the road and rolled two to three times.”
Poe was headed to Hurricane to start his shift for the day when the accident occurs. He lives between Cross Lanes and Charleston.