WAYNE CO., Ind. --
Four Indiana law enforcement officers were struck Wednesday as they worked crashes in the wake of the massive ice storm.
Two Indiana State Police troopers were hit along Interstate 74 in Shelby County and Interstate 65 in Tippecanoe County, while two sheriff’s deputies were struck while assisting troopers with multiple crashes on Interstate 70, police said.
Just after 10:30 a.m., Wayne County Deputy Christopher Blackwell was struck by a truck on I-70 near the 150 mile marker while standing by the side of the highway investigating a crash.
Police said an oncoming box truck swerved to avoid hitting the trucks involved in the earlier crash, hitting Blackwell instead, knocking him to the roadway.
He was transported to Reid Memorial Hospital in Richmond with serious injuries and later transferred to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis. His condition was not released Wednesday evening.
The driver of the box truck, Terrill L. Jones, 22, ended up hitting one of the tractor-trailers involved in the earlier crash. He was treated at the scene and was cited for speeding.
I-70 was closed for five hours while emergency crews investigated the crash and cleared the wreckage.
About an hour after that crash, a state police trooper was struck by a tractor-trailer on I-65 in Tippecanoe County.
Police said 1st Sgt. Tom McKee, 44, of Lafayette, was sitting in his unmarked cruiser trying to get oncoming cars to slow down ahead of a prior crash.
An oncoming tractor-trailer started to jackknife and drove off the left side shoulder of the roadway, striking the back of McKee’s car and sent it spinning into the median, police said.
The driver of the tractor-trailer pulled into the right lane and drove away, leaving the scene of the crash, police said.
McKee was taken to Indiana University Health Arnett in Lafayette. He was treated for minor injures and released a short time later.
Indiana State Police were looking Wednesday evening for the white tractor-trailer that struck McKee's vehicle.
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