Aurora – Roger Baxter spent more than three months in the hospital after a semi-truck hit him in October as he worked on the side of the highway, costing him his right leg.
Near-tragedy struck again Tuesday.
Baxter, 57, and his wife, Deb, walked into their home in the 19100 block of East Nassau Drive about 11:15 a.m. and found someone had ransacked the place.
That’s when a man came out of a bedroom and pointed a gun at him. But the burglar and gun didn’t scare Baxter.
“I hit him with my crutch and he shot me,” Baxter said Tuesday evening at his home.
The burglar shot Baxter once, and the bullet ripped through the cellphone Baxter was carrying, leaving a 4-inch gash in his side.
He was treated at a hospital and released.
The suspect, who is a juvenile, and another male juvenile who was outside standing lookout, ran from the house, police spokesman Bob Friel said.
Both were caught walking in the neighborhood a few hours later, and are under investigation of charges possibly including attempted murder, Friel said.
Several schools in the area were locked down as police searched for the suspects.
Most might consider themselves unlucky to have been near death twice in seven months.
But not Baxter.
“It’s not my time,” Baxter said. “I’m destined to do something, and I’m going to do it.”
Neighbors and friends who gathered outside the home were shocked to learn of yet another near-fatal incident involving Baxter.
“They’ve been though so much in the last year, I just can’t believe this happened,” said Kryssy Kimminau, who lives two houses from the Baxters.
But they said if anyone can get over the shooting, it is Baxter.
Baxter, a state Department of Transportation employee, worked hard on his physical therapy after he was clipped by a semi last year as he was picking up debris on Interstate 70 near Watkins.
Doctors amputated his right leg from the knee down, and he now wears a prosthetic. His left leg was injured in the accident.
He friends are not surprised that a couple of burglars couldn’t stop Baxter.
“I’m a tough old bird and I won’t back down from anybody,” Baxter said.
Staff writer Carlos Illescas can be reached at 303-954-1175 or cillescas@denverpost.com.
