PORTSMOUTH — Police charged a 24-year-old Barrington woman with driving while intoxicated after her vehicle allegedly struck a police cruiser and injured an officer inside early this morning.
At 2:24 a.m. Saturday, Portsmouth police were notified of a vehicle operating erratically on Turnpike Avenue. The vehicle was described as speeding and operating left of the divider line, and officers were dispatched to check the condition of the driver.
Shortly after that, police learned that the vehicle had struck a police cruiser on Bristol Ferry Road near the Mt. Hope Bridge, injuring the officer inside. The officer was working with an overnight road construction crew when the collision occurred, according to police.
The officer was transported to Newport Hospital and was treated and released this morning, police said. Both vehicles suffered disabling damage and had to be towed from the scene.
The operator of the vehicle that hit the police cruiser was identified by police as Bianca L. Jannetta, 24, of 37 Columbus Ave., Barrington.
Ms. Jannetta was charged with operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs and refusal to submit to a chemical test.
She was held overnight at the station and was scheduled to be arraigned this morning by a justice of the peace.
The accident remains under investigation by the R.I. State Police.