The person killed when a tractor-trailer truck slammed into a Colorado State Patrol car on northbound Interstate 25 yesterday near Walsenberg has been identified as Connie Tucker of Trinidad.
Tucker was sitting in the patrol car of State Trooper Brad Kennerson when the truck, driven by German Rosales, 23, of Riverside, Calif., slid into the back of the patrol car, according to the state patrol.
State patrol investigators have determined that the patrol car was parked on the left shoulder next to the center median with its emergency lights flashing when it was hit.
Kennerson, 42, a 12-year veteran of the patrol, had gone to the area to investigate an earlier accident. The two people involved in the earlier accident, identified by officers as Tucker, 56, and Rhonda Traber, 49, of Trinidad, were sitting in Kennerson’s patrol car because of bad weather.
Both Traber and Kennerson suffered serious injuries when the tractor-trailer hit the patrol car.
Kennerson, who was stationed at Walsenberg, was airlifted to St. Mary Corwin Hospital in Pueblo. Traber was first taken to Spanish Peaks Medical Center in Walsenberg and then flown to St. Mary Corwin.
The patrol said that Rosales suffered moderate injuries and was treated at Spanish Peaks Medical Center.
The patrol said the accident is under investigation but that alcohol and drugs are not suspected.
Approximately two weeks ago, the State Patrol said it was cracking down on drivers who failed to pull over an additional lane from a State Patrol car or other emergency vehicles parked along a highway.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
