KENT, Wash. — A Washington State Patrol (WSP) Trooper pulled a driver over a highway barrier to safety Sunday, moments before a suspected impaired driver slammed into his patrol car, they said.
WSP says Trooper MacDonald had stopped to assist a disabled vehicle partially blocking an HOV lane on the left shoulder near Kent. After speaking with the driver, the trooper said he suspected impairment and began a driving under the influence investigation.
While the investigation was underway, another vehicle struck MacDonald’s patrol car, sending it into the disabled vehicle.
Before impact, MacDonald pulled the driver he was assisting over the barrier to get both clear of the collision’s path.
Neither MacDonald nor the driver was injured.
WSP says the driver of the vehicle that struck the patrol car was arrested on suspicion of DUI and vehicular assault.
They say the striking driver and two passengers were injured and transported to a hospital.
The collision marks the second close call involving an impaired driver for MacDonald. Last year, his patrol car was also struck by an impaired driver while MacDonald was outside the vehicle, and he was not injured.
The incident was also the third time in ten days that someone crashed into a state trooper’s vehicle on I-5.