Huntersville officer in Melania Trump’s motorcade hospitalized following crash

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. — A Huntersville police officer who was part of the motorcade for First Lady Melania Trump during her visit Monday afternoon was hospitalized after being involved in a collision, according to CMPD.

Just before 3:30 p.m., a motorcycle officer with the Huntersville Police Department, who was a part of the motorcade procession for the First Lady, collided with another vehicle, police said.

The crash happened on Woodlawn Avenue near South Tryon Street.

According to the Huntersville Police Department, Officer Lawing was making a U-turn on West Woodlawn Road near I-77 as he tried to return to the motorcade route he had recently left. After making the U-turn, officials said road conditions required Lawing to drive a short distance in the oncoming lanes of West Woodlawn Road while having his emergency equipment activated.

Shortly before rejoining the motorcade, a driver of a Honda Accord made a left turn from West Woodlawn Road onto the on-ramp for I-77 southbound and was struck in the driver’s side by the HPD motorcycle.

Lawing suffered serious injuries but will recover, police said. He was taken to the hospital. The driver of the Honda was not hurt.

Police stressed that there was no threat to the First Lady or any other personnel in the motorcade.

The First Lady tweeted she spoke with the officer and was glad he is doing well.

CMPD is investigating the crash and no other details were released.

Melania Trump stumps for husband in Huntersville day before Election Day

First Lady Melania Trump made a visit to North Carolina on Monday, with Election Day just a day away.

She spoke at a “Make America Great Again” event in Huntersville at 4 p.m. at Magnolia Woods event center, off Statesville Road.

The First Lady’s visit came just 24 hours after her husband held a campaign rally at the Hickory Regional Airport, and Vice President Mike Pence attended a church service in Boone.

President Trump also held a “Make American Great Again” rally in Fayetteville on Monday at 11:30 a.m. The President’s campaign announced that Trump will be stopping in Fayetteville on Monday during a flurry of 14 public appearances in three days across several states.

The First Lady made a rare appearance on the campaign trail in Huntersville, addressing a crowd of about 300.

The nation’s eyes are on North Carolina. It is a state the President won by three points in 2016 and Republicans want to keep it that way.

The issue on the minds of many voters is the coronavirus pandemic. On Monday, the First Lady told supporters that Democrats and the media have politicized the pandemic.

“Instead of working with our administration to unify and protect our nation, they only sought to attack us,” she said. “At first, they attacked my husband for being too aggressive -- and now they say he hasn’t done enough.”

On the Democratic side, Channel 9 spoke with Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who said the Trump Administration has botched the COVID-19 response and hasn’t taken it seriously.

“We’re gonna have a president who is going to think about, ‘Oh what are the numbers in Charlotte right now? What can we do to open up this business?’ That’s what we want,” the senator said.

There has been a lot of talk about prolonged election results. The good news for North Carolina is that absentee ballots can be processed in advance, so we will have a pretty good picture of the unofficial results by the end of the night. In fact, 97% of the votes are expected to be counted Tuesday night.

Check back with wsoctv.com for updates.

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