Driver arrested for DUI after crash into trooper, tow truck

A motorcycle trooper with the Colorado State Patrol and a tow operator escaped with minor injuries after a pickup truck crashed into both vehicles at a previous crash. The driver of the truck was arrested for driving under the influence.

The incident began at 1:34 a.m. on southbound I-25 near mile marker 157 in El Paso County. CSP Trooper Dean McClain was finishing his investigation of a single-vehicle crash that happened at 11:37 p.m. Tuesday.

McClain's BMW patrol motorcycle was parked on the shoulder with its emergency lights activated and parked in front of the motorcycle was the tow truck with its amber lights activated. The driver was loading the vehicle involved in the crash for the tow.

That's when a 1998 Ford pickup truck traveled across the middle and right lanes and onto the shoulder where it collided with the motorcycle and the tow truck. The motorcycle was thrown across all lanes of traffic into the center median where it caught fire and was destroyed.

McClain was standing on the other side of the guardrail and the two operator was standing between the tow truck and the guardrail. Debris from the impact struck both McClain and the tow operator, causing minor injuries.

The driver of the pickup, Bernard Ewertz, 55, of Greeley suffered moderate injuries and his passenger, a 31-year-old female from Greeley, sustained serious injuries. Both were rushed to Penrose Hospital. Neither the trooper nor tow truck driver were taken to the hospital.

Ewertz was later arrested for driving under the influence. Two lanes of I-25 were closed for about 4 hours during the investigation and cleanup.

"Today we were extremely lucky this situation was not worse," said Col. Matthew Packard, CSP Chief. "We have not always been this lucky. This is a dramatic reminder of the dangers of both not moving over and driving under the influence."