New York trooper dodges chain-reaction crash on I-190, driver charged with DWI
A trooper jumped over a concrete barrier on I-190 as a chain-reaction crash closed in, and an Alden man was charged with DWI after the near miss.
A New York State trooper had to leap over a concrete barrier and into northbound traffic lanes to escape a chain-reaction crash on I-190 southbound near Buffalo, a close call captured on body-camera video and now being used as a stark reminder of how quickly roadside scenes can turn dangerous.
State Police said the crash unfolded July 1, 2026, in the town of Tonawanda after a trooper had already stopped to help at a separate one-car crash involving a 2025 Dodge Charger. While the trooper was standing in the roadway, investigators say a 2014 Dodge Ram with a dolly trailer driven by James R. Phalen, 34, of Alden, hit a 2007 Ford Focus. The Ford then struck a parked New York State Police Charger, and that cruiser pushed into the Dodge Charger involved in the original crash.
The trooper saw the collision coming and jumped over the barrier to avoid being hit. No one was injured, but the State Police cruiser took major damage in the pileup, underscoring the risk first responders face when they are working on the shoulder of a high-speed highway.
Phalen was arrested at the scene and charged with Driving While Intoxicated and other vehicle and traffic tickets. State Police said he allegedly refused a chemical test at SP Buffalo. The body-camera footage was released by New York State Police and shows just how narrow the margin was between a property-damage crash and a fatal strike on a trooper already on scene.
The incident adds to a troubling pattern of roadside crashes in Western New York in which impaired driving, stopped emergency vehicles and passing traffic have combined into dangerous secondary collisions. On busy corridors like the I-190, a single impact can set off a chain reaction in seconds, leaving troopers and motorists with little time to react. The Tonawanda crash ended without injuries, but the video makes clear how close it came to becoming a far worse scene.
This article was produced by Prism’s automated news system from verified source data, official records, and press releases, then run through automated quality and moderation checks before publishing. The system is built and supervised by the people who set the standards it runs under. Read our full AI policy.
Did this article answer your question?
