A trooper conducting a traffic stop along a highway was struck intentionally by a pickup driver who had changed lanes to hit him on Thursday, the Associated Press reported.
Trooper Christopher Skinner was killed instantly, with driver Almond Upton being charged with murder, police said.
Driving on Interstate 81 near Binghamton around noon, Upton told police that he deliberately swerved his pickup truck from the left passing lane to the right shoulder to hit Skinner, police Superintendent Joseph A. D'Amico said.
Upton, of Melrose, Florida, had sideswiped two other vehicles with his 2014 Toyota Tacoma, D'Amico said.
The suspect was found naked in nearby woods after a police dog tracked him. An hour later, Upton was taken into custody. Police said he didn't appear to be drunk or on drugs.
The motive remains unclear for now, D'Amico said. Upton was driving to Connecticut to visit his mother, he said.
Upton, 60, was arraigned on a count of first-degree murder in Town of Chenango Court. After he was jailed without bail, it could not immediately be determined if he had a lawyer.
"Skinner, 42, was from the Sidney barracks in Delaware County and was a 13-year veteran," the AP reported. "The Binghamton resident is survived by his fiancée and two children, ages 12 and 15."
"In 2011, New York instituted a Move Over law, requiring motorists to slow down and move over when approaching police and emergency vehicles alongside roadways."
"Skinner is the second New York state trooper killed in a highway crash in the past six months. Trooper David Cunniff died in December from injuries he suffered when his cruiser was rear-ended by a tractor-trailer shortly after he pulled over a car for speeding on the state Thruway near Amsterdam."
Since 2006, Skinner is the 15th member of the New York State Police to die in the line of duty, and his is the fifth line-of-duty death in the last 10 months, said the Police Benevolent Association of the New York State Troopers.
