Truck Cab Camera Could Hold Clues Into Tragic Death Of Trooper
CASTLE ROCK, Colo. (CBS4) - The sister of Colorado State Patrol Trooper Cody Donahue will address the media Wednesday. Her brother died Friday after being hit by a semi-trailer driven by Noe Gamez-Ruiz on Interstate 25 near the Tomah exit last Friday.
Their lives intersected last Friday as Gamez-Ruiz was returning from a US Foods delivery and Donahue was tending to an accident.
For the past 18 years Richard Whitaker has been a fellow driver for US Foods and a friend of Gamez-Ruiz.
"He's great guy … he comes to work every day with a smile on his face; always willing to help somebody out, whether it be work-related or personal," Whitaker said.
Whitaker does not know what may have happened to cause the deadly crash, but says the answer may very well be held in a camera in trucks of the US Foods cabs.
"It can tell you what the driver was doing at the time..the camera also goes off in front of the truck," Whitaker said, but he added it does not capture side views.
The camera starts recording when alerted by a bump recording what happened just prior and after that time.
The State Patrol cars have cameras as well. It has not been revealed if any of the cameras recorded what led to the impact between truck and trooper.
"I think part of the tragedy of this circumstance is that it took place about a mile away and 13 months later after the death of Jamie Jursevics," Arapahoe District Attorney George Brauchler told CBS4 on Monday.
Jursevics was struck by a drunk driver which followed the death of trooper Taylor Thyfault, who was also struck and killed while standing along a road.
The "Celebration of Life" for Donahue is scheduled to take place Friday at 11 a.m. at the Denver First Church of the Nazarene located at 3800 East Hampden Avenue.
Additional Resources
Contribute to the Cody Donahue Memorial Fund through GoFundMe.
CBS4's Rick Sallinger is a Peabody award winning reporter who has been with the station more than two decades doing hard news and investigative reporting. Follow him on Twitter @ricksallinger.
