A police officer was flown to a Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest and police are hunting a suspect following an assault Wednesday along Route 309 near the crest of the Blue Mountain.

According to West Penn Township Police Chief Brian Johnson, Sgt. Melissa Ruch stopped along the road just after 5 p.m. to check the status of a possibly disabled dark-colored Nissan Maxima parked by a guardrail.State police at Frackville said Ruch called for backup at 5:08 p.m.As Ruch approached, a man came around the car, picked her up and threw her down an embankment.Ruch's officer-down alert alarm was triggered, an emergency radio ID activation, which summoned local and state police from Carbon and Schuylkill counties to the scene.Responding law enforcement officers found Ruch located down an embankment about 20 feet below the roadway.First responders secured Ruch using a Stokes basket before carrying her up to the roadway.Ruch was rushed to a waiting medical helicopter at the intersection of Routes 309 and 895 in Snyders and taken to Lehigh Valley Hospital at Cedar Crest.She reportedly is being treated for non-life-threatening injuries.Ruch reportedly told police she managed to deploy her stun gun at some point during the altercation.Police cordoned off the Blue Mountain as a crime scene and summoned a state police helicopter to assist in a search for the suspect.Travelers reported being detoured through Bowmanstown.The highway remained closed for the rest of the day, reopening at midnight, although a state police presence remained at the scene.Police are calling the incident an aggravated assault case that is being investigated by its Troop L Major Case Team.Police are looking for a Hispanic male, 6 feet 2 inches to 6 feet 4 inches tall, 240-260 pounds with a tattoo beneath one of his eyes. The suspect was reported to be wearing a dark T-shirt, calf-length blue jeans and possibly driving a dark-colored Nissan Maxima with a license plate that might have been painted over.Also responding were the Schuylkill County Sheriff and police from Tamaqua, Rush Township, West Penn Fire Company, West Penn Fire Police, Penn Mahoning Ambulance, Lehighton Ambulance and others.