A speeding vehicle rammed into a Florida Highway Patrol car as the trooper was conducting a traffic stop on a separate group of teens, officials said.
The driver of the speeding van was arrested and may have been under the influence of alcohol, police said. The accident occurred on 104th Street and SW 130th Avenue in Miami-Dade.
According to public information officer Joe Sanchez, the trooper was making a traffic stop and as he turned on 130th Avenue, another car traveling westbound at high speeds crashed into the trooper.
"Both cars are totaled," Sanchez told NBC 6. He said the trooper suffered minor injuries. "It could have been worse," he said.
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The teens told NBC 6 they turned into SW 130th Avenue when they were pulled over by the trooper after one of the teens in the car extended his hand out the window to close a gas cap.
Devin Herrera, 17, said the incoming car was going about 70 mph in a residential neighborhood when he collided into the trooper.
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"When they both collided, both of them skidded out, it was a pretty hard hit, everybody heard it in the neighborhood," Herrera said. He said he ran over with his friends to check on both the driver and trooper to make sure they were OK.
"When we saw that happened, I was kind of in shock that it did happen, my heart kind of dropped," Herrera said. "The way the car hit the state trooper, the door would not open so we kind of plowed it open for him."
He said the trooper thanked the teens for sticking around and only issued them a warning instead of a citation.
"It's just great to have them stick around and be a witness to this incident," Sanchez said.
Criminal charges against the driver are still pending.
