An Indiana State Police trooper while sitting in his police car with an impaired driver was hit in the rear of his police car by a second impaired driver.

It happened around 12:10 a.m. on Saturday, May 18, when Trooper Ala’a Hamed was sitting stationary facing south bound on the west shoulder near the intersection of Broadway and 15th Avenue in Gary. His fully marked police car was out of traffic and had all its emergency lights activated.

Hamed had detained Mario L. Rodriguez, 48 of Valparaiso, who was sitting in Hamed’s police car with Hamed for allegedly driving impaired.

Hamed heard what sounded like a car crashing when he looked in his rear view mirror and saw a silver Chevrolet coupe sideswipe a parked 2016 Chevrolet van, then ricochet off and hit the rear of his police car.

This pushed his police car into the rear of Rodriguez vehicle, a 2005 Kia sedan.

Hamed then went to check on the driver of the Chevrolet coupe. Upon approaching the Chevrolet he could see it was being driven by a woman who tried to accelerate the car towards him, however, the Chevrolet was wedged and stuck into the rear of the police car and her front tires were spinning. Hamed proceeded with a felony stop until the woman complied with his commands to get out of the Chevrolet.

Hamed, Rodriquez, and the Chevrolet’s driver, identified as Ashley P. Brown, 36 of Hammond, were checked at the scene by medics and cleared.

Further investigation showed Brown and Rodriguez were both impaired. Brown tested .13% B.A.C. on a certified test and Rodriguez tested .16% B.A.C. on a certified test. Both were taken to the Lake County Jail in Crown Point.

Rodriguez was charged with: Operating While Intoxicated (OWI) .15% B.A.C, OWI Endangerment, OWI per se, Driving While Suspended Infraction and Speeding.

Brown was charged with: OWI Endangerment, OWI with a B.A.C. over .08%, and Failure to Yield to Stationary Emergency Vehicle.