Mass. Trooper, K-9 on Traffic Detail Injured when Driver Rear-Ends Unit

A Massachusetts State Police trooper and his K-9 companion were injured Monday when an 81-year-old driver struck their cruiser as it sat on the side of Interstate 495, officials said.

The trooper, a 37-year-old man, was transported by ambulance to UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester, where he was admitted overnight. The K-9, a male, was brought to Tufts Veterinary Hospital in North Grafton, where he was also held overnight, according to the state police.

In a statement, the state police said the trooper and K-9 were working a highway detail, sitting in their cruiser in the breakdown lane of I-495 in Hopkinton, when they were hit from behind around 1:45 p.m.

The driver accused of hitting the cruiser, a Connecticut man, was brought to a local hospital with minor injuries. He has not yet been charged in connection with the crash, but an investigation will determine if charges are necessary, state police said.

The K-9 was transported by ambulance under “Nero’s Law,” a relatively new state law allowing first responders to treat and transport K-9s injured on the job. After its passage in April, the law was first used in July to treat a state police K-9 shot during a standoff with an armed suspect in Fitchburg.

The investigation into the crash is being led by the state police’s Troop C, which covers parts of Central Massachusetts, as well as the agency’s Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section and Crime Scene Services Section.

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