Ohio Highway Patrol: Cruiser struck by impaired and distracted driver
Impaired driving and distracted driving are bad enough on their own, but the two combined is a "whole other level of dangerous."
That's the message the Ohio State Highway Patrol is sending after they say a Cleveland woman struck the back of a cruiser in Portage County.
Sgt. Brad Evans says the cruiser was struck while a trooper was making a traffic stop on State Route 14 just north of Ravenna.
Thankfully the trooper was not inside the cruiser at the time and no one was injured.
In the dash cam video, the trooper can be seen just wrapping up a traffic stop and returning to his cruiser. When suddenly, the cruiser is struck from the back.
The trooper can be heard asking the woman "Are you alright?" And then, "What's going on?"
The woman, later identified as 42 year-old La'neshia James, can be heard saying "I did not see you."
The trooper responds: "What do you mean you did not see me? I have blue lights on."
James can later be heard in the video saying "I was talking on the phone."
James has been charged with OVI, distracted driving, not wearing a seatbelt, and improper handling of a firearm.
Ohio law requires driver to move over for emergency vehicles stopped on a highway.