An Indiana State trooper was seriously injured early Wednesday when an alleged intoxicated driver rear-ended him while the trooper was responding to another crash in Gary.
About midnight, the trooper was parked behind a Mercedes that crashed into the center median on I-80/94 east of Burr Street, Indiana State Police said in a statement.
While the trooper was seated in a vehicle, 30-year-old Cameron D. Geweniger sped his SUV near the median, prompting another trooper standing farther back to jump over the median to avoid being struck, state police said.
The SUV rear-ended the trooper sitting in the parked squad car, state police said. The impact caused the police car to strike the Mercedes as well as the median wall.
Two other troopers pulled their colleague from his vehicle, which was leaking gas, state police said. He was rushed to a hospital in serious condition.
Geweniger refused medical treatment and multiple sobriety tests, state police said. Authorities obtained a search warrant for a blood draw, but test results are pending.
He was booked at Lake County Jail on preliminary charges of driving while intoxicated, resisting law enforcement and reckless driving.
