Metro Nashville Police Officer Hurt In I-40 DUI Crash

NASHVILLE, TN -- A Metro Nashville Police officer assisting victims of an early Sunday morning hit-and-run was struck himself by an alleged drunken driver and hospitalized.

Around 5:45 Sunday morning, the officer - who has not been identified - responded to a hit-and-run on Interstate 40 near Fesslers Lane. Though lanes were shut down, another driver hit the officer's cruiser while he was sitting inside on the on-ramp from Fairfield Avenue. The officer was taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center with minor injuries. The patrol car had to be towed from the scene.

The driver who hit the cruiser and who was also not immediately identified was arrested on suspicion of DUI.

The original hit-and-run occurred around 2:30 Sunday morning. A man and woman were hit by a Dodge Ram while changing a tire on the shoulder of the interstate. A passerby jotted down the license plate number of the Ram and that driver was later arrested by the Tennessee Highway Patrol and also charged with DUI.

The man and woman in the original wreck are in critical but stable condition.

Image via Metro Nashville Police