The VSI requests that sheriffs and deputies shroud their badges in honor of Virginia State Police Trooper Nathan-Michael W. Smith though the day of his funeral.
Our sincerest condolences to Trooper Smith’s family and friends and to the Virginia State Police.
Funeral arrangements for Trooper Smith are as follows:
Visitation:
Friday, September 25, 2015, from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
St. Paul’s Baptist Church, 4247 Creighton Road, Henrico, VA 23223
804-643-4000
Funeral Service:
Saturday, September 26, 2015, at 2:00 p.m.
St. Paul’s Baptist Church, 4247 Creighton Road, Henrico, VA 23223
804-643-4000
Burial:
*Burial will be for family members & select VSP personnel
Saturday, September 26, 2015, directly following the service
Roselawn Memory Gardens, 13389 Mountain Road, Glen Allen, VA 23059
Reception will follow the burial for family members only.
Virginia State Police Mourns Loss of Trooper
Trooper Dies Following Traffic Crash in Prince George County
RICHMOND – Virginia State Police are mourning the loss of one of its own today after Trooper Nathan-Michael W. Smith died following a traffic crash in Prince George County. Trooper Smith, 27, of Suffolk, Va., becomes the Department’s 61st sworn employee to die in the line of duty. Trooper Smith was responding to what he believed to be a fellow trooper in distress when his patrol car ran off the road and crashed.
At 7:11 a.m., Monday (Sept. 21), Virginia State Police responded to a single-vehicle crash on Route 460 in Dinwiddie County. A 2004 Dodge Ram 1500 pickup truck was traveling east on Route 460, near Airport Street, when it ran off the right side of the road and struck the guardrail. The adult male driver was transported to Southside Regional Medical Center, where he died later Monday morning. The fatal crash remains under investigation.
One of the troopers at the Route 460 crash scene radioed the state police Richmond Division dispatch to request rescue. When other troopers in the Area heard that request for rescue, they understood it to mean there was a trooper in distress. The troopers immediately began responding to the scene on Route 460.
At approximately 7:20 a.m., Monday (Sept. 21), Trooper Smith was en-route to the perceived distress call. As he took the I-295 south exit ramp to I-95 north in Prince George County, his Ford Taurus patrol vehicle ran off the left side of the ramp. The patrol car overturned onto its side and struck several trees before coming to rest in the trees. The trooper had to be extricated from the vehicle and was flown to VCU Medical Center. He died later Monday (Sept. 21) morning.
It was later determined that the troopers understood the initial radio call as a citizen administering CPR to a trooper at the Route 460 crash scene. When, in fact, it was a trooper and citizen administering CPR to the driver of the pickup truck.
The state police Richmond Division Crash Reconstruction Team is investigating the Prince George County crash, which remains under investigation.