The Arizona Department of Public Safety's director says a trooper was standing next to Interstate 10 in Phoenix when a vehicle left a traffic lane and slammed into the trooper's motorcycle and rear-ended a mini-van that the trooper had pulled over.
Col. Frank Milstead says the trooper was thrown several feet by the impact and suffered bruises and scrapes. But Milstead says the officer's helmet may have saved him from serious head injuries.
Milstead says the other two drivers involved in the Thursday morning accident are OK.
News video showed the wreckage of the trooper's motorcycle on its side next to a freeway barrier. The mini-van with a heavily damaged rear end was nearby. A third vehicle with damage to its front end and windshield was on an embankment.
