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A relief fund, along with several other fund raising projects have been set up to help benefit Virginia State Trooper Kris Chapman, who was seriously injured on Feb. 1 after being struck by a drunk driver on Interstate 81 in Smythe County.
Trooper Chapman remains in the Intensive Care Unit at Bristol Regional Hospital.Chapman, 30, is assigned to Smyth County and has been with the Virginia State Police for five years. He has a wife and two young children. “He’s doing better and we understand that they may soon start progressive rehab,” said Trooper Rex Carter Thursday morning. Carter, along with the help of fellow-Trooper Jeff Jones and others are spearheading the effort to start the fund and several other events to help with the many expenses the Chapman family has incurred. One of the first events scheduled, according to Trooper Carter, is a benefit BBQ dinner taking place this Saturday night, Feb. 16, at the Marion Lifesaving Crew Building on South Park Street in Marion from 11 a.m. till 6 p.m. “The response from the public has been great as far as Saturday’s dinner goes,” said Carter. “We have a lot of individuals and businesses donating items, as well as several churches making us baked goods to sell.” There will also be a raffle of door prizes and a silent auction at Saturday’s event. One of the biggest items in the silent auction is two tickets to the Bristol Busch Race. “I just found out this morning that we will have a fund raising event on March 3 at the Abingdon Pizza Hut, just off the I-81 at exit 17,” added Carter. During the March 3 benefit, Pizza Hut will be holding a buffet from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. and 25 percent of the sales will go toward the Chapman Fund. According to the Virginia State Police, just before 11 p.m. Friday, Feb. 1, Trooper K.S. Chapman stopped a vehicle traveling southbound on I-81 at the 38-mile marker in Smyth County. At approximately 11:07 p.m. as the trooper was finishing up the traffic stop and the stopped vehicle was pulling away, a Ford F-150 pickup truck ran into the back of the trooper’s vehicle. The pickup truck then crossed back over the southbound lanes of I-81 and ran off the left side of the road. The pickup overturned in the median and came to rest upside down. Meanwhile, the impact of the crash forced the trooper’s vehicle to cross the southbound lanes and come to rest off the left shoulder.
Trooper Chapman had been sitting in his marked 2006 Ford Crown Victoria, which was parked on the right shoulder of the southbound lanes of I-81 with its emergency lights activated, when the pickup truck crashed into his vehicle. Trooper Chapman was flown by Virginia State Police Med-Flight helicopter to the Bristol Regional Medical Center. His injuries are severe and he remains in intensive care.
The driver of the pickup truck, Barry Dean Marshall II, 32, of Abingdon, Va., was taken by ambulance to Smyth County Community Hospital for treatment of minor injuries and was released. Marshall was charged with DUI and is also facing several other additional charges. “We are looking at doing several other things down the road for Trooper Chapman and his gamily, but those ideas are still in the early planning stages,” Carter said. “We urge anyone that would like to help, to make a donation to the Chapman Relief Fund. Contributions can be sent to: Trooper Kris Chapman Relief Fund, Bank of Marion- Chilhowie Branch, P.O. Box 1560, Chilhowie, VA 24319.
Photos: (Top left) Trooper Kris Chapman. (Right) Photo of Trooper Chapman's vehicle after it was struck. (Bottom left) Photo of the pickup truck driven by Marshall. (Photos courtesy of Virginia State Police.)
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