Rochester – This afternoon, at approximately 2:17 p.m., a 29-year-veteran of the Fulton County Sheriff’s Department escaped injury after his police vehicle was sideswiped by a semi-tractor on U.S. 31 near Fulton County Road 150 North.

A preliminary investigation by Master Trooper Randy Shaver revealed that Fulton County Sheriff’s Sergeant Ed Beaird, 60, rural Rochester, IN,  had a vehicle stopped for speeding on the shoulder of southbound U.S. 31 near County Road 150 North.  Monte Hipes, 57, Marion, IN, was driving a 2006 Freightliner semi-tractor, pulling an empty flatbed trailer, southbound on U.S. 31.  Beaird was inside his fully marked 2008 Ford Expedition, with emergency lights activated, writing a citation to the driver he had stopped. For an undetermined reason, the Freightliner traveled off the west side of U.S. 31. The semi-tractor sideswiped the Ford, destroying the driver’s side.

Neither Beaird nor Hipes was injured.

Hipes, who was driving for First Option Incorporated, based in Marion, IN, was issued a citation for failure to yield to an emergency vehicle.

Motorists are reminded when they approach an emergency vehicle on the roadside, with its emergency lights activated, they should move to the lane of traffic away from the emergency vehicle. If motorists can not change lanes safely, they should reduce the speed of their vehicle by at least 10 miles per hour below the posted speed limit.