Trooper, Civilian, Hit By Suspected Drunken Driver In Mansfield

MANSFIELD, CT — A suspected drunken driver hit both a state trooper and civilian pedestrian who were at a crash scene late Monday night in Mansfield, an accident report indicates.

The crash took place at 11:46 p.m. on Stafford Road, state police said.

According to an accident report, a 2020 Subaru Crosstrek being driven by 26-year-old Hope Elizabeth Herzog of Columbia was heading south, just south of the Route 44 intersection, when the car hit a state trooper and the driver of another car that had just struck a deer. Both were in the road at the crash site, according to state police.

The Subaru then stuck a state police cruiser and pushed it into a second sate police cruiser, according to an accident report. One of the cruisers was wrecked, according to the report.

Herzog was traveling at a high rate of speed, according to an accident report.

The civilian, 21-year-old Mansfield man, and the trooper, both suffered minor injuries and were taken to Hartford Hospital and to Windham Hospital, respectively.

Herzog failed a sobriety test at the scene and was transported to the state police Troop C barracks, where she was charged with reckless driving, driving under the influence, driving while using a hand-held device and second-degree assault with a motor vehicle, according to an arrest report. She posted a $2,500 and is due in Rockville Superior Court on Sept. 6.