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Tired trucker sideswipes Virginia State Trooper

Posted at 11:28 AM, Mar 09, 2017
and last updated 2017-03-10 09:09:46-05

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- A Virginia State Trooper suffered minor injuries when a tractor trailer sideswiped his police cruiser on Interstate 64 in Newport News.

The trooper was sitting in his car near the Jefferson Avenue exit, after he pulled over a Kia driver for speeding, just after midnight Thursday morning.

"A westbound tractor-trailer ran off the right side of the road and sideswiped both the trooper’s patrol car and then the Kia," a Virginia State Police spokesperson said. "[The trooper] was seated inside his patrol car at the time it was struck. The patrol car’s blue emergency lights were activated and flashing during the entire time of the traffic stop."

The trooper was taken to Riverside Hospital where he was treated and released.

No one in the Kia was hurt.

Truck driver Lester A. Diggs, 65, of Waldorf, Md., was charged him with reckless driving.

"Fatigue was a factor in the cause of the crash," the police spokesperson said. "All Virginians are reminded of Virginia’s MOVE OVER law, which was enacted in 2002. The state law requires drivers to yield the right-of-way or reduce speed when approaching stationary emergency vehicles on highways – to include vehicles with amber, blue and red flashing emergency lights."

The tractor-trailer was hauling 1,000 pounds of U.S. mail.

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