By Mike McPhee
Denver Post Staff Writer
Officer Down: Doug Byrne
An Aurora police officer died early this morning after crashing his cruiser on an emergency call late Sunday night. He is the second Aurora officer to die within one year.
Officer Doug Byrne, 37, was pronounced dead at 2:10 a.m. in Swedish Medical Center, police said.
Byrne was responding with emergency lights to a man dying of a seizure when a car stopped directly in front of him at Sixth Avenue and Norfolk Street around 8 p.m., Sunday.
Byrne’s cruiser spun around 180 degrees, then rolled, police said. Byrne was ejected and suffered massive head and chest injuries. It wasn’t clear if he had been wearing a seat belt, police said. Byrne was airlifted to Swedish.
Aurora police chief Dan Oates said Byrne had served 3 years with Aurora, and had worked earlier at another police department, which he didn’t name. Byrne also had fought in the first Gulf war.
The accident is being investigated. Police believe the motorist that stopped in front of Byrne drove off. And the man who suffered the seizure also died, police said.
Last September, Aurora Police Det. Mike Thomas, 52, was sitting at an intersection in his own car and wearing civilian clothes when a man walked up to the car and shot him dead. Brian Washington, 27, has been charged with first-degree murder.