Driver arrested after critically injuring Texas trooper on Dallas tollway
DALLAS COUNTY – A Texas Department of Public Safety trooper is in critical but stable condition after being struck by a vehicle on the Dallas North Tollway.
The driver of the vehicle, 20-year-old Talha Noaman, was arrested for possession of a controlled substance and booked into the Collin County Jail, according to DPS.
The incident occurred in the northbound lanes of the tollway at Keller Springs Road around 12:40 a.m. on Monday.
Trooper Austin Parrott is in critical but stable condition in the ICU at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Plano, according to DPS.
DPS said Parrott was responding to a single-vehicle crash on the tollway when he was hit.
A good Samaritan, who was a private security guard, was also on the scene trying to direct traffic. DPS said the man happened to be driving by the initial accident and stopped to help.
Parrott was outside of his unit talking to the good Samaritan, when a yellow Mini Cooper went around a fire truck, crashed into the barrier wall, and then hit the patrol unit, the trooper, and the good Samaritan as they stood on the shoulder of the highway, according to DPS. Authorities identified Noaman as the driver.
The good Samaritan was taken to a hospital but released Monday morning with minor injuries.
DPS said Parrott sustained severe head trauma when he was struck. Emergency medical personnel performed CPR roadside before transporting him to the hospital.
The investigation is ongoing.