A Washington State Patrol trooper had a medical emergency while driving a patrol car Monday, causing him to collide with another vehicle on Interstate 90 sending both drivers to the hospital with minor injuries.
Trooper Tod Surdam, 50, was driving west on I-90 when he had a medical emergency at around 10 a.m. while driving a patrol car near Exit 286 at Broadway Avenue. He made a hard left turn, swerving into an adjacent lane occupied by 63-year-old Thomas Gonzalez, of Coeur d'Alene. Surdam's 2021 Ford Explorer collided with Gonzalez's 2005 Toyota Sienna, sending Gonzalez's vehicle into the right barrier and Surdam's into the median barrier. Both vehicles sustained damages and were towed from the scene.
Drivers were transported to different hospitals to treat minor injuries sustained in the collision, said Cole Jackson, a public information officer with state patrol.
Responding officers closed a section of the freeway while investigators took notes on the scene. The closure lasted around four hours.
"Any time a patrol car is involved in a collision we need to take measurements at the scene and document it," Jackson said.
Officers redirected traffic to take the exit at Broadway, cross the overpass and re-enter the freeway at the adjacent on-ramp.
The closure lasted about four hours. The State Patrol opened two of the four lanes at around 2:20 p.m. and the rest of the freeway at 3 p.m.
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