ADAMS COUNTY, Colo. – A Colorado sheriff’s deputy risked his own life to save others when he used his SUV to stop a car driving the wrong way down a highway.
In a Facebook post, the Adams County Sheriff’s Office shared pictures of the smashed SUVs involved in the wreck.
A deputy put his SUV in the path of the oncoming car in what the sheriff’s office described as "quick action and bravery" that prevented anyone from being killed.
Deputies said they responded to Interstate 70, where a driver was driving west in the eastbound lanes “at highway speeds.” Investigators said there were more than a dozen vehicles stopped in the eastbound lanes as the driver approached.
“One deputy bravely put himself and his vehicle in harms way ahead of the stopped vehicles and allowed himself to be struck so the other vehicles would not be hit,” the sheriff’s office said in its Facebook post. “There is no doubt that without the deputy’s quick action and bravery several vehicles would have been struck at high speeds and lives would have been lost.”
The crash impact pushed both the SUV going the wrong way and the deputy’s SUV more than 140 feet, where they landed in front of a stopped semi-truck, KDVR reported.
The crash impact pushed both the SUV going the wrong way and the deputy’s SUV more than 140 feet, where they landed in front of a stopped semi-truck.
Neither the deputy nor the other driver were seriously hurt, and they received medical attention as a precaution.
The 83-year-old driver of the other SUV was cited for careless driving and driving in the wrong lane, KUSA reported.