UPDATE: From the Nye County Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday: The Sheriff’s Office would like to thank the public for the outpouring of love and support for Deputy Curtin. He was operating his agency motorcycle yesterday when he was struck and thrown from it. Nevada Highway Patrol is investigating the accident. Deputy Curtin is sore but is home resting. Thanks for your concern and support.
A Nye County Sheriff’s motorcycle deputy was flown to UMC Trauma in Las Vegas following a two-vehicle collision at the intersection of highways 160 and 372 late Tuesday morning.
The initial investigation revealed that the deputy, Greg Curtin, was attempting to perform a traffic stop just after 10 a.m., as the driver of a black Chevy Cavalier crossed his path, causing the deputy to strike the passenger side of the vehicle.
Curtin is expected to recover from his injuries. He was alert and walking around the scene in the aftermath of the collision.
According to the Nevada Highway Patrol, the deputy was on the east sidewalk before pulling into traffic.
An eyewitness to the collision, Al Fischer, who was traveling southbound on the highway, said he didn’t believe the deputy was at fault.
Fischer, a former police officer from Nebraska, recently moved to the Pahrump Valley with his wife.
“I saw him put on his lights and sirens and all of a sudden, I saw the black car pull in front of him,” he said. “All of a sudden I saw the black car pull through the intersection and the officer hit the car.”
Additionally, Fischer said the driver of the car did not immediately stop after the collision, as the driver proceeded northbound on Highway 160.
“I managed to get in front of him and got him to stop,” Fischer said. “He actually told me that he didn’t know the officer hit his car. If I had not got him to stop, I think he would have kept on going because it didn’t look like he was going to stop. I made him stay there until the police officers arrived. That’s not called for because you have to pay attention to what you’re doing behind the wheel.”
The intersection remained closed until approximately 2:45 p.m. for the investigation.
Last summer the Nye County Sheriff’s Office announced the return of motorcycle patrols within the community, when deputies Curtin and Britton Hoffmann successfully graduated from the month-long Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Motors Course.
Both deputies patrol the streets of Pahrump on 1450 cc V-Twin Harley Davidsons.
Contact reporter Selwyn Harris at sharris@pvtimes.com. On Twitter: @pvtimes