A Maryland state trooper was rear-ended Friday morning by a distracted driver during rush hour on the Capital Beltway, police said.
Police say Trooper Austin Mueller, a five-year veteran of Maryland State Police, was patrolling on the Inner Loop of the Beltway at Route 450 in Lanham about 7:15 a.m. when he noticed a man texting while driving.
"Trooper Mueller tried to get the driver's attention because he was sitting next to him, but he was not able to because the driver was looking at his phone," Maryland trooper Captain Dan Pickett told News4's Derrick Ward.
Mueller drove past the other driver and was changing lanes to stop the driver when, because of heavy traffic, Mueller ended up in front of the other driver, police said.
As traffic slowed down, the other driver crashed into the rear of Mueller's marked patrol car, police said.
Maryland State Police identified the other driver as Deangelo Price, 26, of Rockville.
A fellow trooper transported Mueller to a hospital.
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Price said he wasn't hurt. He was charged on the scene with using a handheld phone while driving, following a vehicle closer than reasonable and prudent, negligent driving, failure to control speed to avoid a collision, and other traffic related charges.
Fifteen troopers were struck in Prince George's County and Montgomery County last year. In 2017, four troopers have been struck on the job.
