WSP Trooper Stable After Puyallup Collision, Citizen Rescue

PUYALLUP, WA —The Washington State Patrol on Monday revealed the name of a trooper injured in a collision with a semi-truck while responding to a service call early Friday in Puyallup.

A state patrol spokesperson also thanked the bystanders who helped pull the officer from his burning vehicle and helped save his life.

The injured officer is Trooper Matthew Jordan, who is at Tacoma General Hospital in stable condition, according to Trooper Robert Reyer, the WSP spokesperson said.

The collision happened at 1:20 a.m. Friday at the intersection of state Route 167 and state Route 161 and remains under investigation by the WSP's Criminal Investigations Department, according to Reyer. The involvement of that unit does not mean a crime has been committed.

Reyer told Patch that the driver of the semi-truck was uninjured in the collision, though it is not known if the driver assisted other citizens in extricating Jordan from his police vehicle —a Dodge Charger — which Reyer said was wedged under the truck and caught fire.

"Luckily, he was helped by a lot of bystanders, who observed the incident. They were able to get him out of his vehicle before it was fully engulfed in flames, which assisted in saving his life," Reyer told Patch. "I cannot express how thankful I am for those people who took it upon themselves to jump in when our trooper needed them the most."

Reyer added: "Normally, we are the ones out there who help, serve and protect. In this case, we're thankful we have people in our community who do the same for our trooper."

A citizen-shot video of the rescue has been shown on Fox 13.