Video shows car hit CT state trooper and firefighter on Route 9
By: Connecticut State Police have released a dash cam video showing the moment a driver on Route 9 struck a state trooper and firefighter Wednesday morning as they were helping at the scene of an earlier crash.
State police said the driver lost control of his vehicle, and the video shows the dark-colored sedan veering into the view from the left side of the frame, skidding backwards and sideways.
State police said Cromwell firefighter Jon Anthony Bicking and Trooper William Atkins had responded to an earlier motor vehicle crash on Route 9 southbound near the merge for Interstate 91.
While they were at the scene, a 2014 Honda Accord "lost control on the curved roadway, traveled through the grass gore area and entered from the side of the scene of the prior motor vehicle accident," state police said in a news release.
After striking Bicking and Atkins, the Honda came to rest off the right shoulder of the road in the grass, state police said. The driver was not injured.
Bicking was seriously hurt, while Atkins sustained minor injuries, state police said. Both were taken to Hartford Hospital.
State police said the driver of the Honda, identified as a 43-year-old Manchester resident, was charged with "numerous motor vehicle violations" in the crash. The exact charges against him were not immediately available.
In the video, the rear of the car appears to strike one of the first responders, who was blocked from view by the vehicle that was involved in the earlier crash.
The collision appeared to launch that person several feet in the air to the side of the highway.
The video shows he was sent flying into the grassy area by the side of the highway, where he bowls into a second person, knocking him to the ground. First responders in orange safety vests then ran to render aid to the two men.
The car continued on as it slid off the pavement, straightening out just as it hit the tree line and came to a final rest by the roadside.