VIDEO: Maryland Trooper Critically Injured in Beltway Crash

A Maryland State Trooper responding to a crash along the Capital Beltway on Thursday afternoon was struck while he was in his patrol car by another vehicle, causing the trooper to be trapped inside it.

The accident happened around 2 p.m. on the outer loop of Interstate 95/495 north of Route 450, where Trooper Ezra Ganeshananda's cruiser was parked on the shoulder investigating a crash.

Investigators said this all started while the trooper was seated in his cruiser parked behind a damaged vehicle and a tow truck preparing to move the car. Police said a 60-year-old man driving a Mercedes Benz C300 vehicle had struck three other vehicles and was driving for at least a mile on the left shoulder of I-95/495 before traveling across all four lanes to the right shoulder where he struck the back of the trooper's cruiser.

Police said an incoming tow truck then hit the Mercedes, causing it to spin and crash into the trooper's driver's side door, trapping Trooper Ganeshananda inside.

Another tow truck driver, Tom Herrera, followed the Mercedes vehicle after seeing it drive erratically and hitting other vehicles on the highway. He stopped at the scene of the crash and used his truck to pull the crashed Mercedes away from the trooper's cruiser to help the fire department extricate the trooper, Fox 5 DC reports.