A Craik RCMP constable is receiving care in a Regina hospital after rolling his police car last week while responding to a domestic disturbance call.

“All we’re saying officially is that he was in a very serious car crash,” said RCMP spokesman Cpl. Rob King. “He was taken via STARS air ambulance to hospital where he still remains.”

The name of the 35-year-old constable, who has three years experience with the force, has not been released. He was travelling west on the 732 grid road in the RM of Sarnia in a marked 2011 Ford Crown Victoria with his emergency equipment activated when he lost control of his car at around 11 p.m. on Sept. 2. The vehicle entered the north ditch and rolled several times coming to rest on its wheels. The constable was the sole occupant of the car.

“He was on his way to a domestic disturbance, while other officers were tied up on another call,” said King. “The accident happened and then another member of the public came along, discovered it, and then used the police radio to call for help.”

After the concerned citizen radioed for help, first responders from the Holdfast area, Davidson Fire Department, Craik Fire Department and Davidson EMS responded to assist. The constable had to be freed from the vehicle using the Jaws of Life before he was airlifted to hospital.

King said the RCMP member employee assistance program has been providing assistance to the family and members of the Craik detachment as they struggle to get through this tragedy.

“They’re a support service really,” he said. “They’re there for anything that his family needs or any type of assistance for the members within the detachment who work with him and know him well, any type of assistance they might need that is critical stress relief or things like that.”

This is the second serious car accident to befall a Saskatchewan RCMP officer this summer.  Const. Derek Pineo lost his life when his cruiser hit a moose in the early hours of July 20, 7 kilometres west of the town of Wilkie, while reported to a call.