Palmer officer trapped in squad car after accident

Photo courtesy Palmer Police Department.

A Palmer police officer was temporarily trapped in his vehicle after an SUV hit his squad car on Monday, January 29, 2018.

PALMER — A Palmer police officer was trapped in his squad car after being hit by an SUV attempting to avoid a stopped vehicle on I-45 Monday, January 29, 2018.

At about 5:30 p.m. Monday Officer Aaron Castaneda was sitting in the emergency turnaround on I-45 at the 258 mile marker monitoring traffic. An elderly woman traveling southbound on I-45 stopped in the fast lane and wanted to turn around in the emergency turnaround to go back northbound.

An SUV traveling southbound in the fast lane swerved into the center median in an attempt to miss the elderly woman’s car and hit Officer Castaneda's squad car almost knocking it into the northbound lanes of I-45 and temporarily trapping Officer Castaneda inside.

Officer Castaneda has been with the Palmer Police Department for about three years. He is currently in Parkland Hospital in Dallas but is expected to be released later Monday night. Texas Department of Public Safety worked the accident.