Arkansas State Trooper injured in vehicle accident moved to Little Rock

January 4, 2019 at 5:06 a.m. | Updated January 4, 2019 at 10:21 p.m.

by Lori Dunn , Jim Williamson

Arkansas state trooper Cpl. Clayton McWilliams' A Troop G vehicle sits on the back of a tow truck after hydroplaning and striking a tree on the side of U.S. Highway 71 on Thursday near Wilton, Ark. The state trooper was pinned inside of the vehicle until local fire departments arrived on the scene and was then transported to CHRISTUS St. Michael Health System. He has since been moved to a Little Rock hospital.
Arkansas state trooper Cpl. Clayton McWilliams' A Troop G vehicle sits on the back of a tow truck after hydroplaning and striking a tree on the side of U.S. Highway 71 on Thursday near Wilton, Ark. The state trooper was pinned inside of the vehicle until local fire departments arrived on the scene and was then transported to CHRISTUS St. Michael Health System. He has since been moved to a Little Rock hospital.

An Arkansas state trooper injured Thursday in a single-vehicle accident on U.S. Highway 71 has been moved to a Little Rock hospital where his injuries are being assessed, according to a news release from ASP headquarters in Little Rock.

Cpl. Clayton McWilliams, 32, of Little River County, was initially transported to CHRISTUS St. Michael Health System in Texarkana, Texas.

The accident happened at 12:50 p.m. Thursday on U.S. Highway 71 near Wilton, Ark., in Little River County, according to the release. McWilliams was responding to a crash scene in Sevier County where a logging truck had overturned.

While driving to the crash scene along U.S. Highway 71, the patrol vehicle left the roadway after hydroplaning and struck a tree. Heavy rainfall in the area is believed to have contributed to the cause of the crash.

McWilliams had been working traffic in the area when he received a call about a truck overturning at Highways 71 and 27 north of Wilton.

McWilliams was trapped in the vehicle and had to be extricated, according to responders on scene. He was taken to the hospital by ambulance.

ASP Troopers and Little River County Sheriff Bobby Walraven escorted the ambulance to the hospital. The Little River Sheriff's Office and local fire departments also responded to the accident.

McWilliams is a native of Waldo, Ark., and a graduate of Magnolia High School and Southern Arkansas University. He graduated from the Arkansas State Police Academy in 2011, according to a press release issued by ASP in 2011.

Information on the driver of the 18-wheeler was not available late Thursday.

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