Dashcam Video Captures Moment State Trooper Struck By Sedan On I-495

Update: (Thursday, June 12,9 a.m.) This story was updated with information about Trooper Aziz and dashcam video from his cruiser.

ARLINGTON, VA — Virginia State Police released dashcam video showing the moment Trooper C. Aziz was struck by her own cruiser Tuesday morning. in the northbound lane of the Capital Beltway/I-495 near exit 52 in Fairfax County.

Aziz responded around 3 a.m. on Tuesday to the report of a sedan stopped in the northbound lane of the Capital Beltway/I-495 near the exit for Little River Turnpike/VA Route 236 in Annandale.

Arriving on the scene, Aziz exited his vehicle in order to talk to the driver of the sedan, but the driver refused to cooperate.

"The driver was already parked in the travel lane," VSP said, on Thursday. "That's what prompted the trooper to pull up behind and she was trying to get the DUID driver to move to the shoulder, for everyone's safety."

As the trooper was trying to talk to the driver, a Jeep Cherokee hit a tractor-trailer that had been forced to stop due to the sedan nt moving, according to police. The impact with the truck spun the Jeep around, so that it struck the patrol car, which then struck the sedan. Aziz, who was standing next to the driver's side of the sedan, was then struck by the sedan.

Aziz was taken to Inova Fairfax to be treated for minor injuries, according to police. The sedan driver, who had remained inside their vehicle, was treated for minor injuries.

THIS is what impaired driving does. #VSP Trooper C. Aziz, amazingly, didn't end up w/any broken bones, but she still has a long road to recovery after a DUI driver slammed into the back of her patrol car while she was stopped out w/a DUID driver on I495 in FFX Co. on 6/11/24 . pic.twitter.com/Lfb1fI8awl
— VA State Police (@VSPPIO) June 12, 2024

Joanna F. Hatch of Arlington was identified as the driver of the Jeep Cherokee. She was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol and taken to the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center.

Police identified 43-year-old Erica D. Bernard of Albright, West Virginia as the driver of the sedan. She was charged with driving under the influence of drugs, obstruction, possession of a schedule I or II substance, refusal of a blood/breath test, and improperly stopping a vehicle on a highway.