An Alaska state trooper received minor injuries when her patrol vehicle sideswiped a 17-year-old's truck in Wasilla on Sunday, troopers reported.
Around 1 p.m., Palmer-based trooper Sgt. Michelyn Pylilo was driving her trooper vehicle, a 2011 Ford Crown Victoria, to the scene of an attempted suicide, according to troopers spokesperson Megan Peters.
Her lights and siren were activated as she drove northbound on Church Road in Wasilla, troopers said.
Johnny Jay Keys was reportedly driving his 1993 Chevrolet pickup in front of Pylilo, in the same direction.
"Keys attempted to make a left turn onto Mission Hills Drive from Church Road," troopers said. "Sgt. Pylilo began to overtake Keys' vehicle on the left and sideswiped his pickup."
The collision caused the trooper to veer left into a ditch, and her cruiser came to stop after hitting a tree. Peters said Pylilo's speed at the time of the crash is unknown and remains under investigation.
Keys told a responding officer he'd just noticed the troopers' lights and siren a moment before impact. Peters did not say whether Keys had been distracted by loud music or something else.
Pylilo suffered minor injuries, and medical responders took her to Mat-Su Regional Medical Center for treatment. She's since been released from the hospital, Peters said.
The teen wasn't injured in the incident, troopers said. Both the trooper and Keys were wearing seatbelts.