A Golden Police Department officer was killed and a second seriously injured after they were hit by a suspected drunken driver while responding to a crash on Colorado 58 on Wednesday night.
The two officers, a man and a woman, were investigating a crash near Washington Avenue and were outside of their vehicle when they were struck just before 5 p.m., Golden Police Chief Joe Harvey said late Wednesday night.
The section of highway is a curved overpass, and another officer was staged nearby, Colorado State Patrol officials said in a news release.
Both officers were forced under the vehicle from the previous crash and were trapped, CSP officials said.
One officer, a 33-year-old man, died at the scene. The second officer, a woman, was taken to the hospital with serious injuries.
The driver was arrested on scene for “suspected impairment,” state patrol officials said late Wednesday. The agency did not release the driver’s name.
Harvey declined to release the officer’s name Wednesday night, citing the wishes of his family, but held back tears as he described the man as an “amazing human being” who served in the military and flew Black Hawk helicopters.
Colorado 58 is closed in both directions and there is no estimated time of reopening.
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