Florida man arrested in drunk driving crash with New York State Police vehicle

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A Florida man is charged with drunken driving of a tractor-trailer after a New York State Police vehicle was struck while the trooper was still inside Tuesday night on Route 17 in Tioga County.

The crash happened just before 7:30 p.m., after a trooper had just issued a traffic ticket on Route 17 in Nichols. The trooper stepped into of his marked patrol vehicle and was waiting for the pulled-over driver to pull back onto the highway, when a tractor-trailer struck the trooper's vehicle from behind.

The impact sheared off most of the driver's side of the patrol vehicle, a 2019 Dodge Charger, and the trooper sustained minor injuries. State police said the tractor-trailer didn't stop — it kept traveling east on Route 17.

A "Be on the Look Out" alert was issued over the Tioga County 911 Center. Owego police and Tioga County Sheriff's deputies were deployed to Route 17 to find the tractor-trailer.

A state police investigator spotted the tractor-trailer with passenger-side damage and a flat tire on Rout 17, and a sheriff's deputy assisted in a traffic stop near Exit 64 at Owego.

The driver, 35-year-old Darvi L. Moreland of Orange Park in Florida, allegedly failed sobriety tests. He was charged with driving while intoxicated, a misdemeanor, as well as traffic violations.

Moreland was sent to the Tioga County jail to await further court action. The injured trooper was treated late Tuesday at Lourdes Hospital in Binghamton, then released.

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