DPS trooper intentionally hits wrong-way driver on Arizona highway

PHOENIX — An Arizona Department of Public Safety trooper purposefully crashed into a wrong-way driver on a highway outside of Phoenix on Thursday, the agency said.

In a series of tweets, DPS said the trooper crashed into the wrong-way driver on State Route 87, a road that runs between the eastern side of the Phoenix metropolitan area and Second Mesa, Arizona, just south of the state’s border with Utah.

Officials said 10-year DPS veteran Pedro Rodriguez crashed into the wrong-way driver’s pickup truck about 2 p.m. Thursday on SR 87 near the Bush Highway.

DPS officials believe the wrong-way driver was impaired.

They said the woman tried to drive away from the scene after the first impact, but Rodriguez struck her truck with his patrol vehicle again and stopped it completely.

Rodriguez and the woman were taken by ground ambulance to hospitals for treatment of minor to moderate injuries. The woman’s name wasn’t released.

State DPS Director Frank Milstead called Rodriguez’s actions heroic and says the trooper prevented other motorists from being injured by the wrong-way driver.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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