A 30-year-old Maryland man has been charged with the attempted murder of three Delaware State Police troopers after police say he rammed a stolen tow truck into their vehicles early Monday in Bear.

Two of the troopers, a seven-year member of the department and a recruit, were treated and released at an area hospital after the police vehicles they were in were struck.

The incident began about 2:45 a.m. Monday when police were told a tow truck entered the parking lot of Hertrich Collision Center. The tow truck's occupants were going through vehicles, police told Delaware Online.

That's when the tow truck operator drove the truck directly at the state police vehicle, striking it head on and disabling it, according to police. 

The tow truck driver then drove west on Pulaski Highway. A responding trooper saw the truck and began chasing it.

The tow truck drove to the rear of a shopping center parking lot and stopped. That's where troopers found the truck and initiated a traffic stop.

As the troopers began exiting the patrol Tahoe, the tow truck accelerated in reverse striking the fully marked police SUV, according to police. The trooper trying to exit the Tahoe on the driver side was thrown from the vehicle.

The tow truck then started to accelerate forward when the other trooper, a 10-year department veteran, fired rounds at the driver and into the vehicle, police said. 

The suspect, John Collins of Perryville, Maryland, was taken into custody after the tow truck crashed.