A state trooper was injured shortly before 6:30 p.m. Sunday when the trooper's cruiser was struck by an alleged drunk driver as the officer was conducting a traffic stop on northbound Route 8, near exit 24, police said.

The trooper was taken by ambulance to Yale-New Haven Hospital with injuries that were described as minor. The highway was closed for a little over an hour, reopening at about 7:30 p.m. The trooper was in the cruiser when it was struck.

The operator of the car that collided with the cruiser, Jeffrey A. Stella, 52, of Southbury, was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, operating an unregistered vehicle, traveling too fast for conditions, failure to drive a reasonable distance apart, and failure to slow or move over for an emergency vehicle, according to state police incident summary. Stella, who was not injured, is due in Superior Court in Derby on Dec. 2.

The car that the trooper originally pulled over had stopped in the left lane, creating a hazard, according to the incident summary. The trooper directed the driver to move to the right shoulder and had stopped traffic to allow the driver to do that. Stella failed to respond in time to the cruiser's emergency lights and struck the rear of the patrol car, according to the summary.