HALIFAX -- Halifax police say an impaired driver crashed into one of their cars while it was stopped to help a driver with a broken down car.

At around 5:15 a.m. Sunday, Halifax Regional Police say one of their officers, in a marked car with emergency lights flashing, had stopped to help a motorist on highway 111 near the Victoria Road extension, southbound, in Dartmouth, N.S.

Police say another vehicle then came and crashed into the police car, sending both the officer and the driver of that vehicle to hospital with non-life threatening injuries. They have both since been released.

According to police, the driver of the vehicle that crashed into the police car showed signs of impairment.

A 40 year-old woman from Dartmouth has been charged with refusing to comply with a blood test, and scheduled to appear in Dartmouth Provincial court at a later date.

Police say accident investigators and forensics teams were on site, and the road was closed until about 9:30 a.m.