A state trooper was injured in a collision with a wrong-way driver in Hartford on Tuesday night.
State police said a 43-year-old Wethersfield man was driving the wrong way on Interstate 91 South at the exit 33 on-ramp around 8:15 p.m.
The man reportedly then entered the intersection and went east on Jennings Road while driving the wrong way in the westbound lanes.
An on-duty trooper in the area moved his cruiser in an attempt to stop the wrong-way driver. Investigators said the trooper wanted to prevent a head-on crash with the vehicles behind him.
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Authorities said the vehicle going the wrong way collided with the state police cruiser in what was described as an angled side-swipe from the opposite direction. After the collision, the state police cruiser hit a light pole.
According to state police, the wrong-way vehicle left the scene of the crash and continued down the I-91 South exit 33 on-ramp in the correct direction before becoming disabled. The driver of the wrong-way vehicle reportedly then fled on foot.
The trooper was transported to the hospital to be treated for minor injuries.
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The crash remains under investigation. Multiple arrests are expected.
This wrong-way crash comes days after two wrong-way crashes in different parts of the state over the weekend.
In Westport, state police said they arrested a man who crashed into a construction work zone while driving the wrong way on Interstate 95 South in Westport early Sunday.
An East Hartford man was also arrested for allegedly driving southbound in the northbound lanes of Route 5/15 and hitting a state police cruiser early Sunday. He also appeared to be intoxicated and failed field sobriety tests, according to state police.
These crashes come as the state Department of Transportation is installing wrong-way detection technology at six different locations across Connecticut this week. DOT started working on the ramps earlier this week along Route 8 in Naugatuck, Waterbury and Torrington and some locations on Interstate 84 in Newtown and Farmington.
