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SUMTER, SC (WACH)- A  South Carolina Highway Patrolman was seriously injured in the line of duty early Thursday morning.

South Carolina Highway Patrol trooper Lance Cpl. R.M. Falls, Sumter County, was involved in a line-of-duty collision just after midnight. L/Cpl. Falls was responding to a call to assist the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office at the time of the collision. L/Cpl. Falls is hospitalized in stable condition. He has been with the Highway Patrol since 1991.

Sumter County Chief Deputy Hampton Gardner says a Sheriff's Deputy was responding to a domestic dispute on Wedgefield Road near the Sumter Speedway.
Falls was on his way to assist when his car left the road and hit an embankment.

“The South Carolina Highway Patrol is very concerned about L/Cpl. Falls and we are keeping him and his family in our prayers,” said Col. Mike Oliver. “We are a family and when one of our own is injured, it impacts us all.”

SCDPS Director Leroy Smith said, “The SCDPS Team is thinking of the Falls family at this time. We will be here to support his family throughout his period of recovery.”