Tow Truck Driver Hurt After Getting Pinned by Big Rig

A tow truck driver assisting a disabled vehicle on the onramp from Route 101 to Interstate 95 north in Hampton was transported to the hospital Thursday after a passing tractor trailer got too close and pinned the man between the two trucks.

State Police Sgt. Steve Wheeler said the tow truck driver suffered unknown internal injuries and was complaining of hip pain after he was freed from between the two vehicles around 5 p.m. Thursday.

The driver of the tractor trailer won't be charged in connection to the accident, which was reported as a vehicle striking a pedestrian. Wheeler said it was "more of a side swipe" and that the "tractor trailer was just creeping along" when it got too close to the tow truck driver and his vehicle.

Before he was transported to Portsmouth Regional Hospital, the tow truck driver was "walking and talking" despite being in pain, according to Wheeler.

The names of the two men involved in the accident weren't available Thursday.

The ramp and part of the roadway was shut down for roughly five minutes while a Hampton Fire Department ambulance was on scene. Wheeler said the closure "made a big mess of traffic because of the time of when it was and where it happened," although he said the incident was fairly "minor."

Traffic returned to normal by 5:20 p.m., which is the approximate time that the scene was cleared.