A Montgomery Village woman was charged with driving under the influence early Thursday after the vehicle she was driving struck a Maryland state police cruiser in a work zone on the Beltway outer loop in Bethesda, according to authorities.
Nithya Ramani, 37, was driving a red Honda Accord at about 1 a.m. when she allegedly struck the cruiser parked in a marked work zone near Greentree Road, state police said in a statement Thursday morning.
According to state police, the state trooper was sitting inside his marked cruiser with the vehicle’s emergency lights activated in a lane in the work zone, with that lane and another “blocked with orange traffic cones, arrow boards and signs indicating the work zone ahead.”
Ramani allegedly drove into the work zone, striking the right rear of the trooper’s patrol vehicle. Ramani, who was the sole occupant of the vehicle, was not injured, the statement said. The trooper was not transported from the scene. Both vehicles were towed away.
Ramani was arrested after responding troopers from the Rockville barracks “observed signs of impairment,” the statement said.
