On Tuesday afternoon, Petrus Lucas was helping a stranded motorist on U.S. 40 in Howard County, a routine task for a police auxiliary officer.
While Lucas aided the driver of a vehicle stopped in the fast lane near U.S. 29, a minivan struck his cruiser. Lucas, 24, was not injured, but it was an all too familiar scene.
In 2005, about three miles away on the same roadway, Lucas was helping direct traffic around an accident when he was struck by an SUV. The injuries he suffered resulted in his left leg being amputated below the knee.
After a lengthy rehabilitation, Lucas resumed work as an auxiliary officer last year.
"He says that he is fine following [Tuesday's] incident and is happy to be volunteering as an auxiliary officer again," police spokeswoman Sherry Llewellyn said yesterday, adding that Lucas declined to be interviewed about the crash.
The driver of the Ford Aerostar van, Scott Anthony Serrano, 17, of the 3200 block of Normandy Woods Drive in Ellicott City, was charged with failure to reduce speed to avoid a collision and negligent driving. A passenger, whose name police did not release yesterday, was taken to Howard County General Hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening.
Llewellyn said the crash is under investigation and that "procedure was followed" for roadside assistance by an officer.
"We have every reason to believe that the driver was at fault and was negligent, which is what caused the collision," Llewellyn said.
Auxiliary officers are volunteers who work at least 16 hours a month, performing duties such as responding to calls about abandoned cars, courier tasks, parking enforcement and other nonemergency activities.
Lucas started volunteering in 2003 and has worked more than 1,200 hours, according to the Police Department. A 2002 graduate of River Hill High School, Lucas was named the department's Auxiliary Officer of the Year for 2007.
On the night before Thanksgiving in 2005, a few days after he passed the physical test to enter Howard County's police academy, Lucas was struck by a Chevrolet Blazer while assisting with an accident on U.S. 40 at Pebble Beach Drive in Ellicott City. His legs were shattered when he was thrown against his car. He was taken to Maryland Shock Trauma Center, where doctors amputated his lower left leg.
