LONGMONT, Colo. (AP) - Authorities have identified the 27-year-old driver arrested after a Colorado State Patrol cadet was killed and a trooper critically injured after they were hit while trying to stop a fleeing car near Longmont.
Christopher Gebers was treated for injuries and taken to the Boulder County Jail.
He is being held for investigation of first-degree murder with extreme indifference, attempted first-degree murder with extreme indifference, vehicular assault, vehicular homicide, eluding a police officer, driving a vehicle while license canceled or denied and illegal use of blue lights.
The cadet was identified as Taylor Thyfault, 21, was killed and trooper Clinton Rushing, 37, was injured.
Authorities say Gebers was fleeing a traffic stop Saturday in Weld County when he plowed into the scene of a separate accident investigation being conducted by other troopers. The trooper and cadet were hit while putting out spikes trying to stop Gebers.
Authorities called Thyfault a hero for trying to save the life of tow truck driver Rusty Melvin, the Denver Post reported (https://tinyurl.com/kjyn4kn ).
“Right up to the end, he was doing his job to protect the community,” Longmont police spokesman Jeff Satur said.
Melvin said he was walking around his tow truck to put a railing in place when Thyfault yelled, “Get off the road! Get off the road!”
Within hours of Thyfault’s death, troopers and other police officers put black bands across their badges. A trio of state patrol troopers were seen carrying an American flag to the scene.
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