A tractor-trailer truck that slammed into a Colorado State Patrol car Wednesday morning left one motorist dead and seriously injured a trooper and a third person.
The trooper was investigating an accident on northbound Interstate 25 near Walsenburg when the cruiser was hit from behind, according to Master Trooper Ron Watkins.
Two people involved in the previous crash, along with the trooper, were seated in the patrol car because of bad weather.
One of the two people in the earlier incident was killed. The trooper, whose name was not released, suffered serious injuries and was airlifted to St. Mary Corwin Hospital in Pueblo. The truck driver and the second person in the patrol car were taken to Spanish Peaks Medical Center in Walsenburg. The second person was later airlifted to St. Mary Corwin.
Two weeks ago, the State Patrol said it would start ticketing drivers who did not pull over an additional lane from a State Patrol car or other emergency vehicles parked along a highway. The patrol said it was doing so because of fatal collisions involving the deaths of first responders, police and State Patrol personnel investigating accidents.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
