Deputy Crushed By I-94 Road Sign; In Serious Condition

MILWAUKEE COUNTY, WI — A Milwaukee County Sheriff's deputy is in serious but stable condition after a freak accident on I-41 resulted in him getting pinned to ground on the freeway by a toppled road sign.

According to the Milwaukee County Sheriff's office, deputies responded to a crash at just before 10 p.m. on I-41 near Drexel Ave. for a semi truck crashed into an electronic sign board stored on the side of the freeway. Authorities say the sign board was placed in a barreled-off lane for overnight construction work.

Authorities say the sign board was pushed over the median wall with a portion of the board hanging into the southbound lane of traffic.

A Milwaukee County Sheriff's deputy shut down the northbound traffic in one lane in order to tend to the toppled sign board. From the northbound lane, the deputy attempted to pull the sign board off the wall and back onto the northbound side.

While doing this, authorities say the part of the sign board that was hanging over the wall was struck by the trailer of a passing semi truck traveling south in the left lane. The sign board then struck the deputy, knocking him to the ground and landing on top of him in the left lane of the northbound traffic.

Another responding deputy and a Good Samaritan helped lift the sign board off the injured deputy and stabilized him for as emergency workers from the Oak Creek Fire Department hurried to the scene. The deputy was taken to a local hospital for treatment and is currently in serious, but stable condition.