DES MOINES, Iowa — A Des Moines police officer was injured and a Highway Helper narrowly avoided being hurt after a car hit a Highway Helper vehicle on I-235 Tuesday morning.

The accident happened just after 9:30 a.m. on westbound I-235 near the Cottage Grove exit. According to Sgt. Paul Parizek, the Des Moines officer stopped first to help a stopped motorist along the road. The Highway Helper arrived and was setting up orange safety cones at the site when a black Nissan hit the Highway Helper vehicle from behind.

“While they were out here another car didn’t move over, seems maybe traveling at a pretty high rate of speed, struck the rear end of the highway helper car. As it kind of spun out of control it also hit the front end of the police car which knocked that police car into the officer that was trying to run out of the way,” said Parizek.

Police say the officer has a possible broken bone in his arm. He was transported to the hospital for treatment. The Highway Helper had to jump over the fence on the side of the road to avoid being hit by his own vehicle.

“This is why these move over laws exist. You need to move over and slow down because you’ve got our first reponders out here trying to help people, and the last thing they need is somebody running into them,” said Sgt. Parizek.

The driver of the Nissan suffered minor injuries in the crash and is being checked out by medics. Police have not released the driver’s name.

Traffic in the area is slow as crews clean up the scene but is expected to be clear soon.