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Commerce City officer injured in suspected DUI crash on I-270

A Commerce City police officer was injured early Tuesday morning after a suspected drunk driver rammed into the back of the officer’s patrol vehicle.

The officer was in the hospital in serious condition Tuesday. The suspect is also in the hospital and could be charged with vehicular assault, Commerce City Police spokesperson Joanna Small said.

The incident happened just after midnight on Interstate 270, west of Vasquez Boulevard, according to a post by the Commerce City Police Department on the social platform X. Police first posted about the crash at about 2:41 a.m.

The speed limit on that stretch of road is 65 miles per hour. Witnesses said that the alleged drunk driver was driving fast. An investigation to determine the speed and toxicity of the suspect is still underway. 

It is believed to be the first impaired driving traffic crash on Colorado highways of the New Year’s Eve holiday, one for which first responders brace themselves. 

“Typically during the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day we see impaired driving incidents increase,” said Colorado State Patrol Sgt. Patrick Rice. 

The Colorado State Patrol will have a beefed up presence over the next two days “to identify impaired driving and holding those folks accountable,” Rice added. 

The Commerce City officer was investigating a separate crash and was inside his vehicle when a car struck the back of the parked patrol car, police said.

The driver of that car, later identified as 40-year-old Ryan Western, was taken into custody, according to police. Western was issued a citation for driving under the influence, according to the Colorado State Patrol.

The Colorado State Patrol has taken over the investigation into the crash.

In 2022, the Colorado State Patrol investigated 41 impaired driving incidents in the 48-hour period between New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Last year at the same time, that number was 44. 

Rice said to take into account that these numbers don’t include stops by local law enforcement agencies.

“There’s just no excuse for driving impaired for 2024 leading into 2025. We have ride shares.The decision to drive impaired on NYE or any night leads to lifelong consequences or loss of life and it’s just not worth it,” he said. 

That stretch of Interstate 270 has had problems in the recent past. On Dec. 8, 2023, four first responders working on a previous single-vehicle DUI crash at Interstate 270 and Sable were hit by another suspected impaired driver. 

The fire department had a firetruck barricading two lanes and was directing traffic around the incident on the right shoulder of the highway when the suspected impaired driver drove around the shoulder and directly into the crash scene, hitting the public safety personnel. All four first responders were treated at a nearby hospital and eventually released. 

Denver Gazette Breaking News Reporter Sage Kelley, and The Denver Gazette’s news partners 9NEWS contributed to this report. 

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