Driver arrested, DPS trooper injured in I-10 accident near Phoenix

PHOENIX – An Arizona highway trooper parked on a freeway shoulder in metro Phoenix was injured when his patrol vehicle was rear-ended Tuesday.

The Arizona Department of Public Service said Christian Reiling, 25, of Goodyear, smashed a pickup truck into the officer’s unit along eastbound Interstate 10 near the Bullard Avenue exit.

The trooper had been conducting a nighttime traffic stop. His vehicle was knocked forward into the SUV that he had pulled over.

There were no serious injuries.

Reiling was booked on charges of DUI, endangerment and aggravated assault.

At least three state troopers on duty have been struck in their vehicles in three months.

In November, a trooper was hurt in a collision on State Route 85 near Buckeye. A large pickup truck trying to get around cars during a traffic stop hit a patrol unit from behind. The officer had parked in the median.

In October, two people died and an officer was hurt in a crash on San Tan Loop 202 in Chandler.

The trooper was parked on the left shoulder investigating a single-vehicle crash when a car carrying two people rear-ended the patrol unit.

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