Raeford Police Officer Injured In Crash

A Raeford police officer recently sustained serious personal injuries in a wreck after he fell asleep behind the wheel while driving home and collided with the rear of a tractor-trailer on U.S. 20.

Raeford Police Chief Mike Dummett said 27-year-old Steven Cole Penfield was in his personal vehicle, a 1997 Dodge van, when the accident occurred at around 8 a.m. on November 8. Penfield sustained several broken bones in the crash.

Initially, Penfield was airlifted to UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill, Dummett said. However, he has since improved enough to be transferred to Cape Fear Valley Medical Center.

Dummett said Penfield was on his way home after working third shift when the accident took place.

Penfield was eastbound on U.S. 20 when he rear-ended a 1987 International Freightliner truck driven by 40-year-old Clinton resident Casey Wiley, according to a report filed by Highway Patrol Trooper D.L. Alford.

The truck, registered to Chris Matthis Farming in Clinton, had stopped in the eastbound lane waiting for students board a school bus, according to the report. The truck had just started moving forward when Penfield’s van struck it.