NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- A state trooper was seriously hurt after being hit by a suspected drunk driver driving the wrong way on Interstate 64 early Saturday morning.
Sgt. Michelle Anaya with Virginia State Police said troopers received multiple reports of a wrong-way driver on Interstate 64 at mile marker 256, which is near the exit for Victory Boulevard in Newport News, around 3:45 a.m.
As a result, a "Be on the Look Out" was broadcast to troopers in the area in hopes of locating the driver, Anaya said.
Trooper M. LeSage positioned his cruiser in the interstate's eastbound lanes in an attempt to "locate and stop the wrong-way driver."
Then just after 4 a.m. LeSage reported that he had been hit head-on by the wrong-way driver at a "high rate of speed."
The trooper was taken to Riverside Hospital in Williamsburg with serious, non-life-threatening injuries, Anaya said.
The wrong-way driver, 26-year-old Elijah Jones, was not hurt, according to Anaya. He was arrested and charged with felony driving under the influence/maiming and driving with an open container.
Jones was taken to the Virginia Peninsula Regional Jail.
This is a developing story, so anyone with more information can email newstips@wtvr.com to send a tip.
