More Details On Trooper’s Death

The State Patrol and the Morrill County Sheriff have released more details, including the name of another driver killed, in a crash that also killed a Nebraska state trooper.

The Patrol said in a news release Friday that 28-year-old Derek Lacrete, of Lewellen, died when he was thrown from his sport utility vehicle in the Thursday morning crash on Highway 26 near Scottsbluff that also killed 51-year-old Trooper Jerry Smith.

Investigators say the crash happened when Lacrete crashed into the back of a pickup truck stopped to make a left turn. The crash caused Lacrete’s SUV to veer into the oncoming lane, where it collided head-on with Smith’s patrol car.  The driver of the pickup was not seriously hurt.