A Nebraska State Patrol trooper suffered minor injuries Thursday night after his patrol vehicle was struck while he was providing traffic control for an earlier crash on Interstate 80.
The crash happened around 10:10 p.m. near North Platte. Patrol spokesman Cody Thomas says the trooper was second in a line of three troopers moving traffic into the passing lane while tow truck operators cleared the scene of an earlier crash.
Thomas says the trooper was sitting in his patrol vehicle with emergency lights activated when a Buick Enclave rear-ended the cruiser. The Buick came to rest in the median. The other troopers immediately checked on the Buick driver and the injured trooper. The Buick driver was not hurt.
The trooper was taken to Great Plains Health in North Platte, where he was treated for minor injuries and released. The Buick driver was cited for failing to move over for an emergency vehicle, having an open alcohol container, no registration and no insurance.
The earlier crash happened around 3:45 p.m. Thursday and involved a pickup and a semi. Both vehicles caught fire. The pickup driver was taken to Great Plains Health with minor injuries. Both crashes remain under investigation.
(Photo: courtesy Nebraska State Patrol)