Taylor Thyfault, 21, in a photo from his Facebook page, was killed Saturday while in training as a cadet with the Colorado State Patrol. Police on scene say he was able to save the life of a tow-truck driver just before he was struck and killed by a vehicle fleeing a traffic stop.



A Colorado State Patrol trooper was injured and a cadet in training — a Windsor High School graduate — died after being struck by a vehicle fleeing from a traffic stop on Saturday.

The trooper and cadet were helping at an accident scene on Colo. 66 near Weld County Road 1, which is on the northeast outskirts of Longmont, about 30 miles southwest of Greeley, when a 2002 Honda Civic, fleeing a trooper from a traffic stop at Interstate 25, hit them as he attempted to avoid the three-car crash, said Cmdr. Jeff Satur of the Longmont Police Department, which is investigating the crash.

A 27-year-old man, who police will identify soon, was driving the Honda, and was arrested after he crashed the vehicle into a tow truck.

Colorado State Patrol Trooper Clinton Rushing, 37, was putting stop sticks on the highway to help slow the fleeing vehicle when it struck him in the road; the car then skidded between the cars involved in the earlier crash and hit cadet Taylor Thyfault, 21. Thyfault played lacrosse for and graduated from Windsor High School.

“One of his final acts, the cadet yelled out to the tow truck driver to get out of the way before he was struck,” Satur said. “The tow-truck driver said the cadet saved his life.”

Rushing was taken to a Longmont hospital with critical injuries while Thyfault was declared dead on scene.

A trooper had attempted to stop the Honda 3 miles away at Interstate 25 and Colo. 66, Satur said. The driver, stopped for equipment violations, took off immediately.

Colo. 66 remains closed during the investigation with detours in place.