A 28-year-old woman was killed standing at a bus stop early today at Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and York Street after an ambulance hit a car in the intersection and the car then careened into the bus stop.
The Denver Medical Examiner’s Office identified the woman this afternoon as Rochelle Hope of Denver.
Police said the ambulance was going west with its lights and sirens on at about 3 a.m. when a Cadillac crossed the intersection without yielding.
The ambulance broadsided the Cadillac, pushing it into the bus stop, police said.
Two paramedics in the ambulance — driver Tom Kacan and Marsha Davis — were injured in the crash but tried to save Hope, who died at the scene.
Davis was treated for injuries at Denver Health Medical Center and released. Kacan is in fair condition, according to the hospital.
There was no patient in the ambulance.
The driver of the Cadillac, who is suspected of drunken driving, was taken to a hospital. Details on his condition were not available, and he has not been named by police.
Reuben Gregory, 32, who lives nearby on York Street, said he heard the sirens, then a loud bang and the impact of twisting metal.
He said he hurried to the intersection and saw the paramedics talking to each other, checking to see if they were OK. They then began attending to the woman, whose body was on the ground.
“They went over to the body, even though they were pretty shook up themselves,” Gregory said.
The paramedics also checked inside the Cadillac, but it was obvious they couldn’t get at the driver because the car was so mangled, Gregory said.
“It was pretty scary,” Gregory said. “Everything was smoking.”
Kieran Nicholson: 303-954-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com
