MIAMI TOWNSHIP, Ohio - The police officer who was struck while outside his vehicle on Interstate 75 Saturday night was expected to spend the night at Kettering Medical Center, the Journal-News reported.
The injured officer, who was not named, “is awake but very sore,” police said.
Southbound I-75 was shut down at Ohio 725, and the backup extended past the Dryden Road exit in Moraine.
The driver of a white pickup that struck the officer is suspected of driving while impaired, said Sgt. Frank Edward Simmons Jr. of the Dayton Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol.
The officer had responded to two crashes near Dayton Mall, according to the Montgomery County Regional Dispatch Center.
At 9:20 p.m., a red sedan hit a pole, then at 9:22 p.m. a blue Subaru Forester crashed in the same area near the Ohio 725 exit.
At 9:29 p.m. the officer who responded to the first crashes was struck by an early 1990s Chevrolet truck.
Troopers from the Dayton Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol were with the truck at the 44-mile marker.
All three crashes remain under investigation.
The Journal-News is a media partner of WCPO - 9 On Your Side.