Driver Arrested After Crashing Into Police Cruiser

A Hudson man was arrested for driving while intoxicated after crashing his vehicle into a New Hampshire State Police cruiser in Merrimack early Saturday morning.

Around 5 a.m., Trooper First Class K. Fagan was on patrol on the D.W. Highway in Merrimack. As he traveled northbound, a southbound vehicle crossed the double yellow lines into the northbound lane into the path of the cruiser.

Fagan veered to the far right shoulder, but the vehicle struck his cruiser in a sideswipe fashion. The vehicle continued past the collision, failing to stop. Despite the damage to the cruiser, the trooper was able to catch up to and stop the vehicle approximately a mile away, near the Greeley Street intersection.

The driver, Erick M. Wayman-Baxter, 20, of Hudson was charged with underage driving while intoxicated and conduct after an accident. He was booked at the state police Troop B barracks in Bedford and later released on bail. He is scheduled to be arraigned on Jan. 9 in Merrimack District Court.

Neither the trooper nor Wayman-Baxter were injured in the collision.