Search continues for driver who tried to run down Highway Patrol trooper

Authorities are still trying to identify a driver who tried to run down a State Highway Patrol trooper in Rowan County over the weekend, and have released surveillance photos to aid in the search.

The incident happened at about 2 a.m. Saturday in Enochville, north of Kannapolis, authorities said.

The trooper had pulled over the ATV drivers on Harmony Lane in the China Grove subdivision for illegally driving on nearby N.C. 153.

Once the trooper left his car, one of the drivers intentionally drove toward him at a high rate of speed. The vehicle hit the trooper in the leg, and he was knocked to the ground, Rowan County sheriff’s investigators said.

The driver then turned around and tried to hit the trooper again. At that point, the trooper fired his gun, attempting to avoid further injury. Both ATV operators then left the area.

The trooper, who has been with the Highway Patrol two years, received serious but non-life-threatening injuries and was taken to Carolinas Medical Center-Northeast in Concord. He was treated and discharged from the hospital Saturday, officials said. The trooper’s name was not released.

Video obtained near the intersection of Main Street in Landis and N.C. 153 shows the ATVs, as well as a white van traveling behind the ATVs.

Sheriff’s investigators are trying to identify the driver of the van as a possible witness, as well as find the identities of the ATV drivers.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call sheriff’s Lt. Chad Moose at 704-216-8687 or sheriff’s Detective Nate Phillips at 704-216-8684.

This story was originally published January 27, 2016 at 8:22 AM with the headline "Search continues for driver who tried to run down Highway Patrol trooper."