LARIMORE, N.D. - North Dakota Highway Patrol is conducting an internal investigation after discovering one of its own officers had driven on the wrong side of a highway for about four minutes the night of a fatal train-bus collision here.
According to North Dakota State Radio transcripts from the night of Jan. 5, at least two 911 callers reported about 7 p.m. a Highway Patrol vehicle driving west in an eastbound lane of U.S. Highway 2 between Arvilla and Larimore.
Minutes later, after an officer was sent to find the wrong-way driver, Lt. Troy Hischer called State Radio to say he accidentally had been facing the wrong way down Highway 2, stopped on the shoulder to talk on a cellphone.
"Yeah, that was me, I was, I ah, shot across the county road and I ended up, I just was stopped talking on the phone ... but I was on the wrong, I was on the shoulder so my headlights would have been coming at (the 911 callers)," Hischer told a State Radio dispatcher, according to the transcript.
Highway Patrol has since determined through investigation Hischer drove the wrong way down Highway 2 for about four minutes and 40 seconds, covering about 4.5 miles, Capt. Aaron Hummel said Friday.
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Hischer was on his way back to Grand Forks from the crash scene in Larimore, Hummel said.
The crash, between a train and school bus, killed bus driver Max Danner, 62, and student Cassidy Sandstrom, 17. Ten other children were injured.
Highway Patrol did not investigate the Jan. 5 incident until March 18, a week after blogger Rob Port, of www.sayanythingblog.com , submitted an open records request for State Radio transcripts.
The patrol's internal investigation includes determining why upper-level supervisors were not informed of Hischer's traffic violation sooner, Hummel said. He and other supervisors in Bismarck were not aware of the incident until Port's records request, he said.
Although the investigation is not complete, Hummel said he believes the traffic violation is an isolated incident for Hischer.
"We believe this to be an incident from that night and nothing further," he said.
Hischer had been on the phone with another officer while he drove the wrong way on the highway, but he had also been fielding many calls from media that night in connection to the Larimore crash, Hummel said.
"Obviously if you're going the wrong way, there were some distractions and confusion," Hummel said.
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Hischer could not be reached for comment Friday.
The fine for driving the wrong way on a highway is $20 in North Dakota, Hummel said. The same fine that applies to the public also applies to Highway Patrol officers, he said.
Hischer is still working in his regular job for the patrol, Hummel said. Any disciplinary action that may be taken will be decided at the end of the investigation, he said.
