Police: Trooper injured by intoxicated truck driver

DINGMAN TOWNSHIP — Sgt. Michael T. Carroll of the Pennsylvania State Police was injured on I-84 West in Pike County early Wednesday morning after he was struck by a tractor trailer operated by an intoxicated driver from Massachusetts, according to a police report.
Cecil Lipscomb Jr., 47, of North Adams, Mass., was charged with striking the cruiser while driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs. He has also been charged with possession of 20 partial packets of heroin and several baggies of cocaine with intent to deliver, among other charges, according to the police.
Corporal Joseph Holland said he made the initial contact with the driver after the accident, at 4:15 a.m. He said he detected the smell of alcohol emanating from the driver, and that his speech was "thick" and "slurred." Lipscomb said he lost control of his truck on the highway's slippery surface, according to Holland.
Two state police cars, one marked and one unmarked, were parked on the right shoulder of the highway when the crash occurred, according to Holland's report. As it traveled downhill, the tractor trailer lost control and swerved to the right, striking the rear of the marked police car, which spun and struck Carroll as he stood behind the unmarked car. The tractor trailer then came to a stop on the right shoulder about 150 yards west of the impact, Holland's report said. Both cars were damaged, he said.
An inspection of the truck uncovered empty liquor bottles, syringes, spoons with burnt residue, and other paraphernalia, according to the report.
Lipscomb was carrying a passenger, Nicole Lynn Gyurasz, 27, also of North Adams, the report said. The owner of the trucking company, Francis A. Waterman, told police that she was not an authorized passenger.
Gyruasz also faces charges, including conspiring with Lipscomb in possession and intent to deliver cocaine, the report stated.
Lipscomb was transported to Wayne Memorial Hospital in Honesdale for blood tests, the report said.
Carroll was taken by ambulance to Geisinger Medical Center in Scranton immediately after the accident. As of Monday he was recovering at home, according to Lieutenant Sean P. Jennings, Station Commander of the Pennsylvania State Police, Troop R, at Blooming Grove.
"I am afraid that I can offer no further medical diagnoses or prognosis at this time," Jennings wrote in an email to the Courier on Monday.
"Sergeant Carroll is currently assigned at the Patrol Section Supervisor here at Troop R, Blooming Grove," Jennings said. "In his role as Patrol Section Supervisor he is responsible for the oversight of all Patrol functions at the station. At the time of this incident he was the Acting Station Commander."