JAMES CITY COUNTY, Va. (WAVY) — A Virginia State Police (VSP) Trooper was hit head-on by a driver, allegedly under the influence of alcohol, traveling in the wrong direction early Saturday morning.
Around 3:45 a.m., state police began to receive multiple reports of a driver traveling westbound in the eastbound lane on I-64 near mile marker 256.
State police issued a Be On the Lookout (BOL) alert in the area in attempt to find the vehicle.
Trooper M. Lesage positioned himself in the eastbound lanes in effort to stop the driver.
Around 4:30 a.m. Trooper Lesage told dispatch he had been hit head-on by a Kia.
Trooper Lesage spoke with WAVY News 10’s Andy Fox on Monday and recounted what happened early Saturday morning, “We were dispatched to a call for a wrong-way driver. I was in a position to stop the vehicle and that’s exactly what I did. I was able to strike the vehicle, prohibiting him from continuing on and striking an innocent member of the public.”
He said he was able to offset his vehicle just slightly so he would not take a direct impact. He said his driver’s side front tire took the brunt of the impact.
State police said the driver, Elijah Jones, 26, was under the influence of alcohol and speeding when he hit the trooper.
Trooper Lesage was taken to Riverside Hospital in Williamsburg with serious but non life-threatening injuries.
Jones was not injured. Police arrested and charged him with driving under the influence/maiming, class 6 felony, and open container. He was taken to the Virginia Peninsula Regional Jail.
