Trooper stops wrong-way driver with skillful chase, last-second crash

A Maine State Trooper has won plaudits for a daring drive last month, using his cruiser to stop a wrong-way driver on a busy interstate thanks to some split-second timing -- an event captured on the cruiser's camera.

Trooper Douglas Cropper had stopped a semi truck on June 29 on I-295 outside Portland, Maine, when he saw a 2010 Toyota Corolla hurtling north in the southbound lanes across the freeway. Cropper got off the freeway to get ahead of the car -- and was immediately blocked by construction on the on-ramp, forcing him to weave through traffic on sidestreets to get back on the freeway.

When he emerges, Cropper is just behind the Corolla, which you can see in the video above at the 1:21 mark moving against traffic on the other side of the highway. Cropper speeds ahead to an emergency turnaround and uses the nose of his Ford Crown Victoria cruiser as a battering ram to halt the Corolla.

Neither Cropper nor the 88-year-old Toyota driver were injured, even though the Corolla was traveling about 45 mph when it hit the Crown Vic. A couple driving near the scene said they would have likely hit the Corolla head-on had Cropper not acted, crediting him with saving their lives.

Cropper also chose not to ticket the 88-year-old driver, who wasn't sure how he had mistakenly driven on the wrong side of the freeway. You can see the trooper's skillful maneuvers below.