Fort Collins Police Arrest Construction Flagger After Deadly Crash
DENVER (KDVR) — Fort Collins Police Services announced Wednesday that a construction flagger was arrested and faces a criminally negligent homicide charge after a semitrailer struck and killed a bicyclist.
An investigation into the July 6 crash found that the 64-year-old construction worker, Rudolph Baldivia, moved the bicyclist and himself out of the semi driver’s view, resulting in the deadly crash. The flagger’s job is to direct traffic around a construction project.
Fort Collins police identified the bicyclist who died at the scene as Catherine Withrow.
“I recognize that today’s announcement will not lessen the pain this family and so many friends have endured, nor will it erase the grief they will continue to carry,” said FCPS Chief Jeff Swoboda in a press release. “But my hope is that today brings some measure of closure, knowing that we have taken an important step toward accountability and justice.”
The semitrailer was a part of the construction project. The bicyclist was moving from the north to the south side of the road when the driver hit her, police said.
Investigators determined there was no way the driver could have seen the two on East Mulberry Street and Whedbee Street that day.