A truck driver was cut off by a motorist on Interstate 70 on Tuesday, sending the rig crashing into a police cruiser parked on the shoulder.
It happened on Tuesday, October 10th at approximately 12:14 a.m. in Columbus, Ohio.
According to The Columbus Division of Police, officer Robert Perry was working traffic enforcement in a construction zone on westbound I-70, west of Interstate 270, when he stopped a motorist for speeding. As Perry was inside his police cruiser SUV writing a citation, a semi truck was cut off by another motorist.
The truck driver swerved, but was unable to avoid a collision and ended up striking the motorist that cut him off. The impact sent the big rig crashing into the shoulder where Perry was parked. The tractor trailer then struck the rear passenger side of the police cruiser, pushing it into the center barrier.
Officer Perry was sent to the hospital with only minor injuries. The truck driver, as well as the driver that cut him off, were treated for minor injuries on scene.
“Thankfully, Officer Perry was inside of his cruiser and the time of this accident, otherwise it could have been extremely worse,” said Police Sgt. Joe Albert.
Both the semi truck and the police cruiser were severely damaged in the wreck and had to be towed from the scene.
Westbound I-70 was shut down until approximately 4:30 a.m. It has since been reopened.
It’s unclear if anyone was cited in the incident.
