Accident Involves 3 Motorcycle Officers

A Colorado Springs police officer and two El Paso County sheriff’s deputies were taken to Memorial Hospital on Friday after a crash during a motorcycle training session.

Friday night a spokesman for the sheriff’s office said one deputy had been treated at the hospital and released. Another suffered severe but non-life threatening injuries and required surgery. A spokesperson for the police department said their officer suffered moderate to severe injuries. The names of the officers haven’t been released pending the outcome of an investigation by the police Major Accident Unit.

Police Lt. Brian Ritz said the victims were among a group of 10 officers, five from each agency, who were finishing a three-week course to prepare for escort duty. Ritz said one rider passed too close to a second rider, and the impact hurled the second motorcycle about 75 yards into the the third rider.Initial word from investigators indicates one motorcycle was unable to stop after the initial collision, causing the second collision.

Ritz said the 10 trainees were being supervised by instructors and that all five officers and two of the deputies were new. The injuries were to a new deputy, a deputy instructor and a police instructor, Ritz said.