NEWTON GROVE — A Newton Grove police officer sustained a broken leg and head injuries in a wreck Tuesday night, losing control of his patrol car and running off the roadway into a set of trees as he was responding to a call.

William C. Lewis, 24, was being treated at WakeMed after undergoing surgery, Newton Grove Police Chief Frankie Harrell said Wednesday. Following the wreck, Lewis had been hurried by ambulance to Sampson Regional Medical Center, where a Life Flight helicopter was waiting.

The police chief said Lewis suffered a broken right femur and a laceration to the back of his head that took five staples to close. Harrell said the officer was in good condition at the hospital and was very lucky.

“It was a major accident,” said Harrell. “He was very blessed.”

The wreck happened shortly before 7 p.m. Tuesday on McLamb Road, less than a mile outside the Newton Grove town limits. Lewis was en route to a call of a fight when the wreck occurred, Harrell said.

“He was responding to a call and he traveled across the center line and overcorrected,” said Highway Patrol Trooper R. Johnson, who investigated the wreck. “He lost control and ran off the road to the right and struck several trees and overturned.”

Johnson said Lewis had been transported to Clinton by rescue personnel before he arrived on the scene at 7:10 p.m. The trooper said he has not yet interviewed Lewis about the wreck, so an investigation is still ongoing.

The Newton Grove Board of Commissioners was in its regular meeting Tuesday night when a call came in to the main office at Town Hall just moments after 7 p.m. about the wreck. The board, holding its regular monthly meeting in the adjacent conference room, stopped what it was doing as town clerk Sheila Barefoot and police commissioner Alan Herring rushed to the phone.

Herring informed the board one of the town’s police officers, Lewis, had been in a bad wreck and excused himself from the meeting to rush to the scene. Minutes later, Newton Grove fire Chief Joey Eason informed the board Lewis had broken his leg in the collision.

Life Flight was called and was en route, but Allen was conscious and speaking to rescue workers, Eason told concerned board members.

Following the meeting, Mayor Gerald Darden, Commissioner Gary Mac Herring and others drove out to McLamb Road to check on the status of Lewis. Town officials expressed relief Wednesday that the wreck proved to be non-life-threatening.

Lewis, who has been with the department for less than a year, is one of the newest faces behind the Newton Grove police badge and has been a welcome addition since his arrival, Harrell said.

“He’s a very good officer,” said Harrell.

The police chief said the fact the young officer was able to escape the mangled patrol cruiser with his life was something for which Lewis’ family and friends, town officials and others were thankful.

Said Gary Mac Herring, “That car was unreal.”

Chris Berendt can be reached at 910-592-8137, ext. 121, or by email at sicrime@intrstar.net.