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Fundraiser underway for SC trooper injured in motorcycle crash while on duty

A local nonprofit raising money for the trooper said he is alert and considered stable but faces a long road to recovery.

ORANGEBURG COUNTY, S.C. — Authorities are investigating a crash that injured a South Carolina Highway Patrol Trooper in Orangeburg County on Monday.

According to a Lexington County Sheriff's Department spokesperson, their traffic division was called in by the Orangeburg County Sheriff's Office to investigate the crash involving a trooper on his marked SCHP motorcycle.

Investigators said the motorcycle was involved in a crash with a privately owned truck around 2 p.m. on Monday on Old State Road near Five Chop Road near Cameron. The injured trooper, Lance Corporal Zachary G. Rickard, was taken to Prisma Richland Hospital for treatment. The truck driver was uninjured, the sheriff's department said.

Since the crash, the nonprofit Serve & Connect has initiated a fundraiser for Rickard to assist with his recovery. The agency said he was stable and alert but "will have a long road to recovery ahead of him."

Serve & Connect said Rickard has been with the South Carolina Highway Patrol for just shy of six years and joined the agency's motor unit earlier in 2023 after working in Sumter and Clarendon counties as part of Troop 1. The Sumter native was also a firefighter before that.

"Lance Corporal Rickard is a true public servant, dedicating his life to serving others," SCHP Colonel Christoper Williamson said in a statement on the nonprofit's fundraising page. "It's always a very sad day when we hear one of our own has been seriously injured on the job. The South Carolina Highway Patrol family is rallying for Lance Corporal Rickard in his recovery, and we will be with him every step of the way."

That rally continues online as the recovery fund for Rickard had already reached more than $3,500 of its $5,000 goal before 5 p.m. on Thursday with 90 days still left in the event.

Serve & Connect said all funds raised will go directly to the family to support Rickard and his family during recovery.

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