Trooper crashes during chase

A Missouri Highway Patrol trooper crashed his patrol car while chasing a suspect early Sunday morning.

The trooper, Jefferson City resident Kyle A. Schrage, 23, was taken to Lake Regional Hospital with minor injuries after the one-vehicle wreck.

The patrol said Schrage was westbound about 1:20 a.m. in Miller County on VFW Road, about a half mile west of Missouri 52. The report says he was in pursuit of a fleeing suspect. It doesn't say why he was pulling over the vehicle, or whether the suspect was later caught.

Schrage went over a small hill crest and lost control of the vehicle, which went off the left side o the road, struck and tree, overturned and landed in the middle of the road.

The vehicle was totaled, with a damage estimate at $22,500.

Schrage was wearing a seat belt, the report said.

Schrage started as a trooper in January 2011, after graduating with the patrol's 92nd recruit class in December 2010.