Three vehicles crashed into each other at the same time on the Inner Loop of Interstate 495 early Tuesday morning, resulting in a trooper getting injured.
The trooper was trying to assist a driver under the influence of drugs on the Capital Beltway in Fairfax County after another person driving intoxicated slammed into a tractor-trailer, police said.
Authorities said that a Virginia State Police trooper was dispatched to a sedan that had stopped in the area of Litter River Turnpike in Fairfax County after 3 a.m. The driver refused the trooper's request to exit or move the car to a safer location on the Beltway, according to Fairfax County police.
The driver was blocking a travel lane on the Inner Loop and had forced a tractor-trailer to stop, police said. As the trooper was standing next to the sedan, a Jeep Cherokee struck the stopped tractor-trailer, police said.
The crash caused the Jeep to spin and hit the trooper's patrol car, which then crashed into the sedan, pushing the car into the trooper, police said.
The trooper had minor injuries and was transported to Inova Fairfax Hospital for further evaluation, police said. The driver of the sedan was also treated for minor injuries after the crash.
According to officials, both drivers were arrested for driving under the influence. Both were taken to the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center.
All travel lanes were reopened after the crash was cleared out.
