An Aurora police officer and the driver of an SUV have been released from a local hospital after being treated for injuries in a traffic crash.
A police sergeant was heading to a hit-and-run traffic incident on Pena Boulevard on Thursday night when the driver of a Toyota Highlander turned in front of the patrol car, according to an Aurora Police Department media release.
The crash happened at about 6:10 p.m. at the intersection of East Colfax Avenue and Laredo Street, police said.
Sgt. Dana Hatfield, with lights and siren activated, was heading to Pena Boulevard and Chambers Road, responding to a hit-and-run there. Hatfield was eastbound on Colfax when a Toyota, driven by Jose Torres, 48, turned in front of the patrol car, police said.
Both Hatfield and Torres were treated and released from a local hospital and an investigation into the crash is ongoing, police said.
Hatfield was heading to Pena Boulevard and Chambers Road where a man had been hit by a vehicle, and where the driver in that incident fled the scene.
Police said the driver of a Chevrolet Suburban had stopped on Pena to help a friend tow a Dodge Durango that had broken down.
As the man attempted to hook a tow rope to the disabled SUV, a passing vehicle, heading west on Pena, drifted toward the Dodge and Chevy, clipping both before hitting the victim, who suffered a severe leg injury.
The driver of the vehicle — described as a “small car” — that hit the victim did not stop, police said.
Police identified the victim as 39-year-old Keino Taylor.
Taylor passed out after being hit and regained consciousness in an ambulance, police said.
“He remembers jumping up to try to avoid the car, but he could not get both legs out of the way,” police said.
Taylor has had surgery on his injured left leg, police said, and doctors have told him that it will require additional surgeries.
Police are hoping witnesses to the hit-and-run come forward with a more detailed description of the car that fled the scene. Anyone with information is asked to call Det. Joe Petrucelli at 303 739-6924.
Kieran Nicholson: 303-954-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com.
