MHP trooper still listed in critical condition after crash

The Daily Inter Lake

A Montana Highway Patrol trooper injured early Monday morning in a crash on U.S. 93 South remained in critical condition Tuesday at Kalispell Regional Medical Center, according to a hospital spokeswoman.

Trooper Mike Haynes suffered extensive leg injuries and head trauma in the head-on collision that left both vehicles severely mangled.

The other driver, Travis Charles Vandersloot, 29, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to Flathead County coroners.

Haynes was southbound on U.S. 93 near mile marker 107 north of Somers about 2:40 a.m. Monday when Vandersloot - in a Volkswagen traveling northbound in the southbound lanes - struck the trooper's marked squad car head-on, according to investigators.

Montana Department of Justice spokesman Kevin O'Brien declined to comment on the specifics of the investigation. Officials have yet to release why Vandersloot's Volkswagen was on the wrong side of the highway and whether alcohol or excessive speed were factors in the crash.

Haynes, 28, was sworn in as a trooper in August 2006.