By Carol McKinley
The Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
GOLDEN, Colo. — The Golden and metro Denver police communities are mourning the death of a Golden officer who was killed while on duty Wednesday evening when he was thrown underneath a crashed vehicle parked on the side of the highway.
Officer Evan Dunn was pinned underneath a car and appeared to have died instantly. Golden police said that he had just graduated from the police academy in July.
A second officer, Bethany Grusing , sustained a cheekbone injury, and two drivers who were involved in the earlier crash also were injured. They were thrown by the impact and one sustained a skull fracture and brain bleed, the arrest document reported.
A Colorado School of Mines mechanical engineering professor was arrested and booked into the Jefferson County jail on suspicion of vehicular homicide and DUI, two counts of vehicular assault and DUI, according to the Colorado State Patrol .
Stephen Geer, 43, appeared in Jefferson County Court Thursday morning and was given a $250,000 bond with the condition of pretrial supervision.
Prosecutor Alexa Visscher argued that Geer refused a blood and breathalyzer test at the scene, but his wife, who is a public defender, said that he is not a flight risk. “Our daughter asked to please bring Daddy home,” she said. “He’s never harmed anyone.”
The Colorado State Patrol said that a trooper, Dunn and Grusing were tending to a crash on Colorado 58 in Golden just before 5 p.m. Wednesday when the incident happened.
One officer was in a police cruiser near the crash and Dunn and Grusing were managing the site when Geer, in a black Mazda, ran into the parked car, forcing the two officers under the original vehicle, according to the arrest affidavit.
Golden Police Chief Joe Harvey described Dunn, 33, officer as an “amazing human being” who flew Black Hawk helicopters in the military and served as a commander. He is survived by his wife, Analise, his sister and his parents.
The Fallen Hero Foundation is planning a memorial for Dunn.
The Colorado State Patrol is the investigating agency in the incident.
Geer will hear his charges on Thursday.
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