Semi carrying 19 Mercedes Benzes hits police car

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Photo provided by Indiana State Police.

Updated: December 26, 2011 9:04AM

An Indiana trooper was lucky not to have been more seriously hurt Sunday afternoon when a semi truck hauling 19 Mercedes Benzes smacked into her squad car.

Indiana State Police Toll Road Trooper Vicki Maxwell was pulled over on the side of the highway helping a driver in need about 2:15 p.m. eastern time when the semi side-swiped Maxwell’s squad car, taking most of the driver-side door with it, a press release from Indiana State Police said.

Maxwell was parked in the outer shoulder in her fully marked 2008 Ford Crown Victoria with all its emergency lights on, according to the release. Witnesses told police the semi driver -- identified as 40-year-old Autumn C. Eberlin of Altoona, Pa. -- failed to move out of the far-right lane even though no vehicles were preventing her from doing so.

Maxwell was taken to the LaPorte Hospital where she was treated and released. Ebirlin was cited for failure to yield to an emergency vehicle, the release said. The semi, owned by Precision Motor Transport Group out of Okemos, Mich., was carrying 19 Mercedes Benz vehicles at the time of the accident.

Drivers in both Indiana and Illinois that fail to move over and slow down around emergency vehicles face fines and may have their licenses suspended for up to two years.