This is from the Rocky Mountain News, the officer is in critical condition after the accident. Here is the full story. I wonder if the officer had been wearing a full face helmet and more appropriate riding gear than what most officers where if he would be hurt as badly. It is sad though that this kind of thing happened.
ENGLEWOOD - An Englewood police officer was in critical condition Wednesday night after a high-speed afternoon motorcycle chase that ended in a crash.
Englewood police said Officer Brian Mueller, 36, was pursuing a man who had tried to buy a large amount of ephedrine at a nearby Wal-Mart around 4:50 p.m. Ephedrine can be used in methamphetamine preparation.
The officer and the suspect, both on motorcycles, went on a mile-long chase that ended up going north on Lincoln Avenue, said Jim Ulrich, Englewood Police spokesman. At the intersection with Dartmouth Avenue, the suspect went through a stop sign. Mueller followed and broadsided a pickup truck going east.
The suspect got away. Both Mueller, a 12-year veteran, and the driver of the truck, Richard J. Talent, 53, of Englewood, were taken to Swedish Medical Center.
Leticia Castillo, also an Englewood police officer, said she was working off-duty at a nearby bank when she heard the dispatcher mention the pursuit. In her personal car, she rushed to Dartmouth Avenue and Lincoln Street.
When she arrived there, she saw Mueller on the ground and two officers hovering over him. His motorcycle was on its side and its emergency lights were still flashing.
Castillo worked her way in to Mueller and held his hand. She climbed into the ambulance and rode with him to the hospital.
Castillo praised all her colleagues, including off-duty officers, at the scene and trying to handle unrelated calls, knowing one of their own was badly hurt.
"The entire department was there. We were all there for him," she said.
Mueller was in critical condition and had surgery Wednesday evening. Talent, the truck's driver, was in fair condition.
Ulrich had no estimate of the chase speed.
Nor could he say whether the chase complied with the department's policy on motorcycle pursuit, saying that was for police accident investigators to determine.
Ulrich said Mueller, who is married with a 5-year-old daughter and a 3-year-old son, suffered head injuries.
At the scene, the passenger's side of the truck was crumpled and the windshield was caved in. The police motorcycle lay in the middle of the intersection.
The driver of the motorcycle was described as a white man with dark, medium-length hair and some facial hair.
The suspect was driving a blue Harley-Davidson motorcycle but police do not have its license number. He faces at least a felony eluding charge and could be criminally liable for the accident.
"If he hadn't been eluding police, this wouldn't have happened," Ulrich said.
ENGLEWOOD - An Englewood police officer was in critical condition Wednesday night after a high-speed afternoon motorcycle chase that ended in a crash.
Englewood police said Officer Brian Mueller, 36, was pursuing a man who had tried to buy a large amount of ephedrine at a nearby Wal-Mart around 4:50 p.m. Ephedrine can be used in methamphetamine preparation.
The officer and the suspect, both on motorcycles, went on a mile-long chase that ended up going north on Lincoln Avenue, said Jim Ulrich, Englewood Police spokesman. At the intersection with Dartmouth Avenue, the suspect went through a stop sign. Mueller followed and broadsided a pickup truck going east.
The suspect got away. Both Mueller, a 12-year veteran, and the driver of the truck, Richard J. Talent, 53, of Englewood, were taken to Swedish Medical Center.
Leticia Castillo, also an Englewood police officer, said she was working off-duty at a nearby bank when she heard the dispatcher mention the pursuit. In her personal car, she rushed to Dartmouth Avenue and Lincoln Street.
When she arrived there, she saw Mueller on the ground and two officers hovering over him. His motorcycle was on its side and its emergency lights were still flashing.
Castillo worked her way in to Mueller and held his hand. She climbed into the ambulance and rode with him to the hospital.
Castillo praised all her colleagues, including off-duty officers, at the scene and trying to handle unrelated calls, knowing one of their own was badly hurt.
"The entire department was there. We were all there for him," she said.
Mueller was in critical condition and had surgery Wednesday evening. Talent, the truck's driver, was in fair condition.
Ulrich had no estimate of the chase speed.
Nor could he say whether the chase complied with the department's policy on motorcycle pursuit, saying that was for police accident investigators to determine.
Ulrich said Mueller, who is married with a 5-year-old daughter and a 3-year-old son, suffered head injuries.
At the scene, the passenger's side of the truck was crumpled and the windshield was caved in. The police motorcycle lay in the middle of the intersection.
The driver of the motorcycle was described as a white man with dark, medium-length hair and some facial hair.
The suspect was driving a blue Harley-Davidson motorcycle but police do not have its license number. He faces at least a felony eluding charge and could be criminally liable for the accident.
"If he hadn't been eluding police, this wouldn't have happened," Ulrich said.
