‘He was larger than life:’ Pueblo Police Department remembers Corporal who died after accident at Lake Pueblo State Park

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) -- The Pueblo Police Department (PPD) continues to remember one of its own after he died in an off-duty wakeboarding accident at Lake Pueblo State Park earlier this week.

41-year-old PPD Corporal Stephen Biggs was found early Monday morning after an hours-long search at Lake Pueblo State Park. Corporal Biggs, who was off duty, went missing around 5:30 p.m. on Sunday following a wakeboarding accident in the Peck Creek area, according to officials.

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Those who worked alongside Corporal Biggs say they remember him for what he meant to the department and continue to mourn him.

"I think the one thing that really is so hard for us, all of us here, including me is that we can't take time to grieve because we have to go out because the citizens are depending on us," PPD Deputy Chief of the Support Services Bureau Zach Ballas told KRDO13.

Deputy Chief Ballas says he remembers Biggs for how proud he was to be a police officer, and serve the City of Pueblo.

"Biggs had a love for Pueblo that I think you just don't see in a lot of people," Deputy Chief Ballas said. "When you look at the things that he did, and he did amazing things for our department, he's a highly decorated officer. That came from his care for Pueblo and it really came from his love for our community."

Deputy Chief Ballas went on to say there was nothing Corporal Biggs wouldn't do to help the people of Pueblo. He says fellow officers who Corporal Biggs helped train told officials they wouldn't have gotten through training without him.

"Biggs was really, he was larger than life," Deputy Chief Ballas said. "Biggs was the kind of person that no matter what was going on, he was there as a friend always."

Colorado Parks and Wildlife confirmed the vest he was wearing was designed to protect from impacts, and was not intended as a flotation device.

According to PPD, Corporal Biggs had been employed with the department since October 2010, during which he served as a Patrol Training Officer and member of the SWAT team. Deputy Chief Ballas says Corporal Biggs started working with PPD even earlier than that as a civilian at the East Side substation. Officials say he received ten letters of commendation, three Medal of Valor awards, and the Distinguished Service Award.

"Everybody that has been around him -- our department, the community, the people that he served. Everyone that was around him is better for having been with him," Deputy Chief Ballas said. "He did make the world a better place and he made Pueblo a better place."

Deputy Chief Ballas says he will remember Corporal Biggs for his sense of humor and smile that he says always preempted a joke.

"When we talk about his personality and what, unfortunately, our department and our community has lost, that's what we lost," Deputy Chief Ballas said. "We lost that motivation, we lost that positivity, we lost that humor and that love for our department and our community."

A memorial for Corporal Biggs sits outside the Pueblo Police Department for those who want to pay their respects.

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