Driver strikes pair of police cruisers in Sunderland

SUNDERLAND — Both a Deerfield Police cruiser and a Massachusetts State Police cruiser were struck after responding to a report of an impaired driver on Sunday.

According to State Police spokesperson Brandon Doherty, a trooper from the Northampton barracks was asked to respond after dispatchers received a call regarding a car that struck a mailbox in Sunderland at around 2:50 a.m. The individual who found the driver reported that he was slumped over the steering wheel.

“When the trooper and another officer/cruiser from Deerfield arrived on scene, [the] operator woke up and accelerated, striking both cruisers, causing minor damage to both,” Doherty wrote in an email. “A second trooper sustained cuts to his hand (from broken glass) while assisting the operator of the vehicle that crashed.”

State Police arrested the driver for operating under the influence of alcohol, according to a post on the Deerfield Police Department’s Facebook page. He is scheduled to be arraigned in court on Tuesday.

When reached by email on Monday, Deerfield Police Detective Sgt. Adam Sokoloski deferred questions to State Police, which is the investigative agency and charging agency for this arrest. Two Deerfield Police officers were called in to assist State Police.

No further information was available by press time on Monday.