BRIGHTON, Colo.—Colorado State Patrol troopers shrouded their badges Saturday as they mourn the death of a trooper who was crushed by a pickup truck while trying to help another driver on Interstate 76.
Trooper Zachariah Templeton, 27, who had been in critical condition since the accident Thursday afternoon, died from his injuries Friday at about 8 p.m., Colorado State Patrol spokesman Gil Mares said.
“All of Colorado mourns this loss, and we offer our prayers, thoughts and sympathies to Trooper Templeton’s family and his colleagues at the Colorado State Patrol and Department of Public Safety,” Gov. Bill Ritter said in a statement Saturday.
Templeton was one of two troopers injured. Trooper Scott Hinshaw, 38, remained in serious condition at Denver Health Medical Center.
The driver has not been arrested or cited as the accident remained under investigation.
Templeton is survived by his 3-year-old daughter, Samantha, his mother and father Teresa and Doug Templeton, a brother and a girlfriend. He joined the patrol in 2003.
“Templeton was best described by fellow troopers and supervisors as an individual with a big heart and willingness to help others,” the State Patrol said in a statement. “It is that desire to serve which lead Templeton to respond to the call of a fellow officer.”
Both troopers were standing on the median helping a motorist reload one of two plastic farm chemical tanks that had fallen off of a flatbed trailer. That’s when investigators said a 17-year-old driving a Ford F-150 slammed on his brakes when he realized the traffic was stopped along the highway but then skidded and slid into the median, hitting the troopers.
The 17-year-old and his 16-year-old male passenger weren’t injured and neither alcohol nor drugs was suspected of contributing to the crash, the patrol said.
The driver pulling the trailer also wasn’t injured.
