Jun 17, 2020

UPDATE: SPD officer runs stop sign, collides with SFD vehicle

Posted Jun 17, 2020 5:36 PM

UPDATE: The Salina Police Department has corrected information given to media concerning this story. The information about the owner of the parked pickup was corrected and the the driver of the Salina Fire Department Suburban was named.

. . .

An on-duty police officer was cited for failing to stop at a stop sign after a two-vehicle accident Tuesday afternoon in north Salina.

Salina Police Captain Paul Forrester said this morning that a department Ford Explorer driven by Officer Karl Scheppelmann, 25, of Salina, was southbound on North Columbia Avenue just before 2:30 p.m. Tuesday when Scheppelmann failed to stop at the stop sign at the intersection with East Ash Street and collided with an eastbound Salina Fire Department Chevrolet Suburban that was running on East Ash Street with lights and siren. The Suburban was driven by Todd Gerbrandt, he said.

The view of the stop sign was partially blocked by a tree and an illegally parked pickup with a ladder leaned up against it, he noted.

Scheppelmann complained of neck and arm pain and Gerbrandt complained of left arm pain, Forrester said. A passenger in the Suburban, a 20-year-old male from Lindsborg, was not injured, he added.

Scheppelmann was cited for disobeying a stop sign, Forrester said.

Additionally, the owner of the illegally parked 1989 Ford F150, Luther Martin, 63, of Salina, was cited for parking within 30 feet of a stop sign, Forrester explained.

Both the Explorer and the Suburban had disabling damage and had to be towed from the scene, he added.

Scheppelmann was not responding to the same incident as the Salina Fire Department vehicle, Forrester said.