MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — A Charles Town police officer is in critical condition after being involved in an off-duty crash on Interstate 81 in Berkeley County early Monday morning.
The Berkeley County Sheriff’s Department said Cpl. Kassidy Noble was injured in the multi-vehicle accident involving tractor trailers, a truck and a passenger vehicle at about 3:30 Monday near the Dry Run Road exit.
Authorities said the crash occurred when a tractor-trailer in the far right lane failed to notice that traffic was coming to a stop due to road work.
Noble, who was driving a Ford Explorer, was flown to Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown. She’s been a police officer in Charles Town for about five years. The Charles Town Police Department said Noble’s injuries are life-threatening.
“Corporal Noble is nearing six years of service with the Charles Town Police Department and is a respected member of the community and the department,” the CPD said in a statement. “Corporal Noble is a true asset to the department who specializes in investigating child and adult sexual assault cases among other crimes.”
A GoFundMe account has been set up. Those who would rather contribute in person, donations of cash, gift cards, and cards of encouragement are being accepted at the Charles Town Police Department, located at 661 South George Street, Suite 100 Charles Town, WV 25414.
“Please keep Kassidy, her family, and her colleagues in your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time as we wish her a speedy recovery.”
A motorist who drove through that stretch of interstate just before the crash, says a rolling road block set up to control traffic was poorly executed. The driver did not want his name released, but said he doesn’t believe the crash would have happened if not for the road block:
He says he and some tractor trailer drivers almost hit a construction vehicle that he says was hard to see and sitting in the middle of the travel lanes.
“If it were you or me we would have gotten a ticket for obstructing the flow of traffic,” the motorist said.
The state police cruiser was off to the side with its lights on, as if it had someone pulled over. The motorist said the trooper and the construction vehicle slowed them down to under five miles an hour two miles ahead of the bridge where the road work was happening. The state DOH announced last week that there would be alternating lane closures on northbound and southbound Interstate 81, at Exit 16, in Berkeley County, from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. from Saturday through Wednesday to allow for the cleaning and painting of the Clarence Martin Jr. Memorial Bridge.
The motorist said he’s generally a person who supports police, but he believes this was mishandled. He said vehicles were slowed down so dramatically that it made it hard for those coming up behind them at 70 miles an hour to slow down in time.
MetroNews has reached out to the West Virginia State Police for comment.
As for the driver, he said, “This changed people’s lives forever. You’ve got a woman fighting for her life and a driver who will probably lose his job.’
The driver of the tractor trailer was found at fault.
The Berkeley County Sheriff’s Department said any charges will be filed after the investigation is complete.