A D.C. police officer was struck by a vehicle and seriously injured Tuesday night on Interstate 695, the police said.
A vehicle traveling at high speed struck the officer as he was on foot, outside his cruiser, assisting a motorist whose vehicle had broken down, the police said early Wednesday.
The crash occurred at about 10:1o p.m. in the eastbound lanes of the freeway near South Capitol Street. The site is within about three-quarters of a mile of the U.S. Capitol.
The vehicle that struck the officer was traveling at “a high rate of speed,” the police said. The exact speed was not given.
Other officers went to the injured officer’s aid, and he was taken to a hospital. In a statement issued early Wednesday, the police said he remained in the hospital, being treated for serious injuries.
The driver of the vehicle that struck the officer remained at the scene, police said. That driver was then also taken to a hospital, with injuries that the police described as not life-threatening.
Neither the officer nor the other driver was named. It was not clear whether the injured officer had been driving on the freeway and spotted the stalled motorist, or whether he had been dispatched to the motorist’s aid.
The driver of the vehicle that had broken down was not injured.
Interstate 695 is a major traffic artery running mainly east and west through Southeast Washington. It is south and southeast of the Capitol.
It carries several streams of vehicles, including some traveling from Virginia across the Potomac River and into Maryland, and others from Northwest Washington traveling through the Third Street Tunnel to Southeast Washington and to Maryland.
After the crash, video posted online shows a heavy response of law enforcement personnel to the scene. Their vehicles occupied several lanes of the freeway, and travel there was suspended for a time. Personnel included police officers, fire department members and members of National Guard.
Video footage on X appears to show at least one person being carried from the eastbound lanes, over the concrete barrier between the east- and westbound lanes and into a police vehicle. The vehicle then leaves the scene, headed west.
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