OSAGE BEACH - An Osage Beach police officer was critically injured when he was struck by a pickup truck during a traffic stop Thursday morning.
According to the Osage Beach Police Department, officer Austin White, 27, was making a traffic stop at 6:15 a.m. Thursday at the east end of the eastbound lane of U.S. 54 on the Grand Glaize Bridge in Osage Beach.
Police said White was struck by a blue GMC ¾-ton pickup truck, driven by Robert T. Watkins, 58, Osage Beach. Watkins had initially struck an assisting Osage Beach patrol car before striking White and then struck a white 2002 Ford Ranger, driven by Kurt Scheiter, 23, Osage Beach.
White, who sustained critical injuries, was transported to the Grand Glaize Airport where he was flown to University Hospital in Columbia. According to the latest information from police, White had regained consciousness.
The Missouri Highway Patrol crash team is assisting in the investigation.