SAGINAW COUNTY (WWJ) - Michigan State Police confirmed in a somber update that a trooper who was hit by a vehicle while conducting a traffic stop in Saginaw County on Wednesday evening has died.
"This is a message none of us wishes to deliver," said Col. James F. Grady II, director of the MSP, said in a social media post just after midnight Thursday. "With a very heavy heart I confirm the death of one of our own, Tpr. Joel Popp. I ask that you please keep his family, fellow troopers and all whose lives he has touched in your thoughts.”
According to troopers, Popp, 39, was assisting other troopers just after 7 p.m. on Jan. 24 as they investigated a suspected impaired driver who was stopped in a "in a curved lane of travel," along northbound I-75 and Birch Run Road, near Vienna Road, in Vienna Township.
Popp was standing outside his patrol car when an 81-year-old driver hit him and two other MSP vehicles at the scene.
Popp was rushed to Hurley Medical Center in Flint with serious injuries where he later died.
The 81-year-old driver was also seriously injured in the crash, but is expected to survive, MSP said.
According to a press release from MSP, Popp is 56th trooper to be killed in the line of duty. The 39-year-old graduated as a member of the 137th Trooper Recruit School after enlisting with the organization in January 2020.
He is survived by his wife, Stefanie, and a young daughter, officials said.
Popp's death comes two weeks after a 16-year-old fell asleep behind the wheel and struck an MSP patrol vehicle on I-75 in Clarkston, injuring a trooper who was also conducting a traffic stop for impaired drinking.
The suspect and trooper both sustained lacerations to their face and were taken to the hospital. The trooper initially suffered a possible broken arm.
In an update posted on Jan. 16, MSP First Lt. Mike Shaw said the injured trooper was in stable condition, but remained hospitalized due to injuries more severe than originally evaluated.
"He will need to spend more time recovering from these injuries. Thank you to everyone who has reached out to us in support of this trooper," Shaw said.