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NEAR MILLARD, MO. -- A crash on a slick Highway 63 sent a Missouri state trooper to the hospital Sunday evening.

Trooper Cary Porter, 29, was parked on the shoulder about three miles south of Millard where he was helping a motorist who had slid off the highway.

Porter and James Williamson, 20, of Chesterfield, Missouri were in the trooper's car when a third car slid into them.

That car was driven by Michael Gambach, 19, of Springfield, Illinois.

"The vehicle that struck the patrol car then got turned around and continued southbound where it hit a gas main and a telephone pole," said Sergeant Brent Bernhardt of the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

Investigators aren't sure why Gambach continued driving after the initial impact.

He told troopers he thought he must have blacked out.

All three men were taken to Northeast Regional Medical Center where they were treated for minor injuries and released.

Damage to the patrol car is estimated at $5,000.