PORTSMOUTH, Va. — A worker for the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) was hurt late Saturday night while assisting at a crash scene on Interstate 264 in Portsmouth.
According to a spokesperson for Virginia State Police (VSP), this sequence of events began at around 11:40 p.m. on I-264 near Victory Boulevard. A VDOT Safety Service Patrol unit had stopped at the scene of a crash in the westbound lane. The worker activated the vehicle's emergency lights and put out orange traffic cones behind the crash scene to alert oncoming traffic.
At some point, a 2015 Mazda 6 sedan traveling west on I-264 ran off the right side of the road and struck the VDOT vehicle, as well as the vehicle involved in the crash the VDOT worker had stopped to assist with.
The VDOT Safety Patrol driver was identified only as a 26-year-old male from Portsmouth. He was injured and transported to a nearby hospital for treatment but should recover.
The driver of the Mazda was identified as 20-year-old Jaheim A. Wilson from Suffolk. He was also transported to a nearby hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.
Wilson has been charged with reckless driving, according to the spokesperson.
