HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — A Florida Highway Patrol trooper escaped with what a crash report described as "minor injuries" after an SUV crashed into his cruiser and another car that he had pulled over.
It happened at 11:10 a.m. on New Year's Day going southbound on Veterans Expressway, in the area of Hutchinson Road in Hillsborough County, FHP said.
The agency explained that the trooper had stopped a car for speeding. Each of their vehicles were off to the side of the highway, on the shoulder, during the traffic stop.
That's when an SUV driver, only identified by the highway patrol as a 52-year-old New Port Richey man, collided with the trooper's patrol cruiser. That collision sent the cruiser forward, causing it to hit the car that was pulled over.
FHP said that the SUV driver was "traveling too fast for the wet roadway conditions southbound on SR-589" when they "lost control."
FHP did not identify the trooper involved by name, but a crash report identifies him as a 61-year-old from Land O'Lakes.
He, along with the SUV driver, were described to have "minor" injuries. A 59-year-old driver and 25-year-old passenger in the car that was pulled over also suffered "minor" injuries, a crash report says.
