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Colorado State Patrol trooper details accident that seriously injured Gypsum tow truck driver: ‘Everything happened so fast’

Press conference urges motorists to slow down, move over for emergency vehicles

Trooper Cecil Gaddy's patrol car was badly damaged, and he was injured, during a Jan. 5 incident on Interstate near Wolcott.
Scott Miller/Vail Daily

Gypsum resident Alex Salgado remains in the hospital with a broken pelvis and other injuries after a Jan. 5 accident on Interstate 70. Trooper Cecil Gaddy also is recovering from injuries sustained that night.

In the aftermath of that accident, the Colorado State Patrol on Thursday held a press conference at the patrol’s training academy in Golden. The event was a chance for Gaddy to talk about events that night, and for others to talk about the importance of the state’s law requiring motorists to slow down and move over for emergency vehicles on the highway.

How you can help

Donate to cover Alex Salgado’s medical costs through GoFundMe at GoFundMe.com/f/Support-Alex-Salgados-Road-To-Recovery.

According to Colorado State Patrol Sgt. Patrick Rice, Salgado is in good spirits but faces the prospect of a long hospital stay. Rice, who knows Salgado from his time in Eagle County, read a statement that Salgado provided for the event.



The statement read, in part, “The white line (on the highway) is so much more than what the eyes see. To first responders, tow operators and the Department of Transportation, and even to the teenage boy changing his flat tire on the side of the road, it’s only 12 inches between us going home and seeing our families that night and not making it home.”

The statement adds that from the time Salgado was hit until he was trapped between Gaddy’s patrol car and his tow truck was just 3.5 seconds. His life was changed “in the blink of an eye,” he wrote.

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Salgado, who graduated from Battle Mountain High School in 2021, was on-scene with the Colorado State Patrol assisting another tow truck driver who had been hit by a Ford F-250.

Salgado was pinned between the front bumper of the trooper’s vehicle and the flatbed of his tow truck, causing several injuries.

Talking about responding to the accident that night, Gaddy recalled the incident in clinical detail. He noted the out-of-control vehicle that struck his patrol car, pushing him under the tow truck and injuring his left shoulder. At first, not knowing his own injuries, he heard Salgado’s screams for help, pinned between the patrol car and the tow truck.

With help on the way, Gaddy pulled Salgado to safety, moved the drivers from the original crash out of the way and made sure the driver of the out-of-control vehicle stayed put, the safest place he could be in the situation.

Colorado State Patrol Captain Jared Rapp speaks with a TV reporter following a Thursday press conference urging motorists to slow down and move over for emergency vehicles.
Scott Miller/Vail Daily

Gaddy applauded Eagle County Paramedics and Eagle River Fire Protection District Crews for their quick response and help in shutting down the interstate.

That night is “one I’m going to remember for the rest of my life,” Gaddy said. “Everything happened so fast,” he added.

Gaddy, along with Captain Jared Rapp, also urged motorists to slow down and move over for emergency vehicles.

“It’s more than just a law,” Gaddy said. “It’s common sense. … Your lives and ours are worth it.”

Salgado’s statement also urged people to slow down and move over.

“The further you are from us, the greater our chances are to go home,” he wrote.


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