Trooper injured after patrol car hit from behind on I-5

KENT, Wash. – A Washington State Patrol trooper was injured early Sunday after her patrol car was hit from behind while on the shoulder of Interstate 5.

The incident was the second time this weekend that a trooper was injured after their vehicle was rear-ended.

Trooper Chris Webb says that the WSP sergeant was on the shoulder of southbound I-5, near the SR-516 (Kent-Des Moines Road) interchange, at 2:15 a.m., waiting for a tow truck to remove a car left behind from an earlier driving while under the influence arrest. At that point, her patrol car was hit from behind by another vehicle.

Webb said that the trooper was taken to a hospital for treatment of minor injuries. The driver of the car that caused the crash was not injured. He was also driving without a valid driver’s license, Webb said, though he was not impaired.

This is the second time in 36 hours that a trooper has been injured after having their car hit from behind. On Friday night, a WSP sergeant was taken to a hospital after his patrol car was hit by a suspected drunk driver in the westbound lanes of the I-90 floating bridge at the East Highrise.