Trooper falls over 30 feet from elevated roadway to river bank while trying to escape crash
Colorado State Trooper Kevin Bagley fell more than 30 feet from an elevated roadway to a river bank below in Adams County over the weekend while trying to escape a crash that involved his patrol vehicle. Bagley was seriously injured and released from the hospital to "begin his long recovery at home."
It all began with two crashes involving Colorado State Patrol vehicles in Adams County on Saturday. The first was at 3:45 a.m. when state troopers were called to a property damage crash on Interstate 270 when a Jeep, at a high rate of speed, struck the side of a Colorado State Patrol cruiser.
The Jeep's driver, Ivan Hernandez, 22, suffered minor injuries and was taken to a hospital for assessment. He was also arrested for DUI. The patrol vehicle was unoccupied at the time of the crash and no one else was injured.
Less than an hour later, at 4:29 a.m., driver Cesar Ayala Manriquez, 30, came upon the crash scene while driving above the speed limit, ran over multiple traffic cones to warn of the first crash and then struck a second Colorado State Patrol vehicle driven by Bagley. Bagley was standing outside his vehicle on an elevated section of the roadway near the metal barrier designed to keep vehicles from falling and crashing into the hillside and river below.
Bagley was in the path of his patrol vehicle when the crash happened and as he tried to back away from his vehicle he was forced over the metal barrier, fell more than 30 feet and landed on the river bank below. He was rushed to the hospital with serious injuries.
The suspect driver, Manriquez, was also injured and rushed to the hospital for treatment and was discharged. He has been arrested and remains in custody in Adams County on charges of vehicular assault- DUI. According to CSP, Manriquez was out on felony bond for DUI at the time of the crash.
