Off duty Littleton cop killed in motorcycle crash

[Nooch]

http://www.9news.com/news/article/334630/339/Litttleton-officer-killed-in-motorcycle-crash

Littleton Police Officer killed on his personal motorcycle while riding off duty. Common left-turn incident. Police suspect the driver that turned on him was intoxicated.

RIP rider/officer. Condolences to the family and department. :(

[madvlad]

RIP rider and officer... man too much of this going on :(

[Nick_Ninja]

First off RIP to the officer and condolences to his kin.

Secondly, if this happened to ANYONE other than the officer it wouldn't have made a head line. It ain't a level playing field. The media is fucked :321:

[Nooch]

Secondly, if this happened to ANYONE other than the officer it wouldn't have made a head line. It ain't a level playing field. The media is fucked :321:

I absolutely do not disagree that the media is fucked. Although I will say that the vast majority of the far-too-many fatal motorcycle accidents so far this year have been on local news.

[asp_125]

RIP officer. I wonder if this will lead to any toughening of penalties for left-turners, or simply written off as another DUI caused accident.

[FZRguy]

RIP :-(

[Moose73]

RIP

[Rabbie303]

RIP! Too many deaths in such a short amount of time.

The story said he was wearing a helmet, but it fell off. Wonder if it would have made a difference. So sad either way.

[Nooch]

RIP! Too many deaths in such a short amount of time.

The story said he was wearing a helmet, but it fell off. Wonder if it would have made a difference. So sad either way.

I hate to say this, but he may have forgotten to cinch his helmet. I cannot believe that I am admitting this, but occasionally I will ride to the store or something closeby in town and when I get there, I go to take off my lid and I realize I never cinched the strap. It has never happened when I go canyon riding, but it worries me nonetheless. :dunno: :oops:

[CYCLE_MONKEY]

RIP officer, Godspeed.

[mxer]

First off RIP to the officer and condolences to his kin.

Secondly, if this happened to ANYONE other than the officer it wouldn't have made a head line. It ain't a level playing field. The media is fucked :321:

Huh? There's an article on basically every fatality.

[3point5]

I hate to say this, but he may have forgotten to cinch his helmet

I read that too…I don't think I've ever forgotten, but my chin strap is so damn annoying that I know when it's NOT on…

Rest in Peace, it's a shame that we have these accidents in our society...

I got the story from channel 7 and the only thing that was mentioned was that the guy was not immediately assumed intoxicated…I believe they said the officers on scene gave the guy a breath-a-lyzer/field sobriety test.

[Nick_Ninja]

Huh? There's an article on basically every fatality.

But not by all major news outlets like 4, 7, 9, 31, 2, et. al. The other fatalities aren't sensationalized like this incident is being reported. :down:

[Aaron]

Rip, and thank you CSC, I was fully expecting to see something anti-cop in here, and to my relief haven't. Thanks guys.


I read that too…I don't think I've ever forgotten, but my chin strap is so damn annoying that I know when it's NOT on…

Rest in Peace, it's a shame that we have these accidents in our society...

I got the story from channel 7 and the only thing that was mentioned was that the guy was not immediately assumed intoxicated…I believe they said the officers on scene gave the guy a breath-a-lyzer/field sobriety test.

95% of all accidents after 8pm involve alcohol. So much so that my agency dispatches a DUI car with every night time crash. And they're always needed. Also, whenever someone else is seriously injured or killed in a crash, it gives us the authority to force a blood draw for toxicology, so they'll know for sure if alcohol was involved.

[rforsythe]

But not by all major news outlets like 4, 7, 9, 31, 2, et. al. The other fatalities aren't sensationalized like this incident is being reported. :down:

As it turns out he was on duty (reporting to court to testify), it's a LODD for a public servant. That deserves news IMO. And who cares if it got extra attention because he's a cop honestly? If it makes just one phone-texting asshole put the phone down, look up, and save one of our lives as a result, then a little air time is worth it. Worst case, OMG you "had" to listen to it get reported a couple extra times. If your time was that valuable you wouldn't spend it in front of a TV anyway. ;)

[tecknojoe]

Rip, and thank you CSC, I was fully expecting to see something anti-cop in here, and to my relief haven't. Thanks guys.



95% of all accidents after 8pm involve alcohol. So much so that my agency dispatches a DUI car with every night time crash. And they're always needed. Also, whenever someone else is seriously injured or killed in a crash, it gives us the authority to force a blood draw for toxicology, so they'll know for sure if alcohol was involved.

I thought if you refuse the breathalizer, it's not assumption of guilt, but you still get taken in. Once at the station they can draw your blood no matter what. no?

RIP to the officer, this has been a bad spring :(

[bornwildnfree]

RIP rider.

[Nick_Ninja]

As it turns out he was on duty (reporting to court to testify), it's a LODD for a public servant. That deserves news IMO. And who cares if it got extra attention because he's a cop honestly? If it makes just one phone-texting asshole put the phone down, look up, and save one of our lives as a result, then a little air time is worth it. Worst case, OMG you "had" to listen to it get reported a couple extra times. If your time was that valuable you wouldn't spend it in front of a TV anyway. ;)

An now the PBA wants to classify this as an on-duty incident to extrapolate insurance and pension monies to the 'victims'. I call BULLSHIT on this one, if and only if, the guy didn't have his chinstrap secured this claim should have a BIG RED DENIED plastered all over the claim remittance. Any other rider, if caught in an at fault accident, would be denied benefit reimbursement without the opportunity to dispute the claim. just watch the preferential treatment spew on this one.

[Nooch]

I thought if you refuse the breathalizer, it's not assumption of guilt, but you still get taken in. Once at the station they can draw your blood no matter what. no?

RIP to the officer, this has been a bad spring :(

The breathalyzer is more of a general indicator of intoxication for field use. Registering on a breathalyzer or refusing the breathalyzer is grounds to bring you in and test you on the datamaster, which is a big, expensive and accurate testing machine (and typically the only breath test result admissable in court). In Indiana (where I was a LEO), you cannot force a blood draw just because the subject refused a field test, but you CAN force a breath test on the datamaster unit. It takes most folks 3-4 hours for their system to eliminate the minimum amount of alcohol necessary to reach .08 so as long as they test you pretty quickly, they won't need a blood test to prove impairment.

[Rabbie303]

I hate to say this, but he may have forgotten to cinch his helmet. I cannot believe that I am admitting this, but occasionally I will ride to the store or something closeby in town and when I get there, I go to take off my lid and I realize I never cinched the strap. It has never happened when I go canyon riding, but it worries me nonetheless. :dunno: :oops:

Ironic you say this because last week I was leaving work on my bike and hopped on 25 to head home. Something was smacking my helmet and I realized I didn't cinch up either. I was freaked out and got off on a exit and quickly did that on the side. I really felt vulnerable out there. Just goes to show the importance of getting everything ready when you take off. RIP!

[Aaron]

I thought if you refuse the breathalizer, it's not assumption of guilt, but you still get taken in. Once at the station they can draw your blood no matter what. no?

RIP to the officer, this has been a bad spring :(

As part of the voluntary roadside maneuvers we offer a PBT, a portable breath test. They are accurate, but not admissible in court. We use them to help determine if the impairment we're seeing in the roadside maneuvers and your actions is caused by alcohol or not. Refusing to take the PBT will not be held against you, however you will most likely still be arrested.

After placing you under arrest out in the field, the Officer reads you CO Express Consent Law: "By the act of driving in the state of Colorado you've given your express consent to a chemical test of your blood or breath, which test do you choose a blood test or a breath test?" Like it says, you choose, I cannot choose for you except in some specific instances. Blood test is faster, and less work for me. But it involves needles, and will cost you about $100 more of you're found guilty. Breath test (Done on the intoxilyzer 9000) takes about a half hour, but it's easy for you. Neither one is more accurate than the other.

If you refuse a chemical test, we CANNOT force it unless there is a crash that involves serious bodily injury or death of another person. However the penalties are worse if you refuse. Standard first time DUI revokes your license for 9 months, and you're eligible for an interlock restricted license after 1 month. A refusal means a full 1 year revocation of your license. The act of you refusing will also be held against you in court.

There is currently a case going to the Supreme Court concerning our being able to force blood draws, without a warrant, if you refuse on a standard DUI. I think it should win, because one of the warrant exceptions for a search is to obtain evidence of a crime that can be easily or quickly destroyed. The other option they are talking about is having pre-written warrant forms, we fill in the blanks relevant to the case, and the judge either gives the ok by phone, signing it later, or we fax/email it to and from a judge and then force a blood draw.

[Cat118!]

RIP to the rider and a fallen hero. Prayers to his family and friends :(