We don’t usually report on isolated accident of this nature — they’re unfortunately all too common. However, in this instance, the accident described hit incredibly close to home. A San Diego Country sheriff’s deputy and a sheriff dispatcher were involved in a rollover accident while in pursuit of an alleged drunk driver that was traveling in the wrong direction on a San Diego freeway shortly after 3:20 a.m. The accident occurred when the SUV being driven by the deputy struck a concrete barrier – ejecting him, and sending the SUV rolling down a canyon with the dispatcher still inside.
The dispatcher who was riding in the passenger seat of the Ford Expedition when it struck the concrete divider is a life-long close personal friend.
The accident resulted when the deputy entered a thick fog bank while traveling at freeway speeds in pursuit of the wrong-way driver. The Ford Expedition collided with the end of the concrete barrier head-on, sending the SUV in a back-over-front flip, off of the bridge and rolling down several hundred feet of steep embankment. The sheriff’s deputy, Ken Collier, age 39, was ejected from the vehicle and sustained fatal injuries.
When I was notified of the accident that involved my close friend, Ryan DeBellis, a San Diego County Sheriff’s Department dispatcher, I went to the hospital to see how he was doing. While at the hospital I asked DeBellis about the events that took place early Sunday morning. Although DeBellis is in a considerable amount of pain, limited in mobility due to a neck brace and a severely bruised and battered body, he was able to recount the events surrounding the tragic event in detail.
DeBellis explained that while traveling west-bound in a San Diego Sheriff’s Ford Expedition on the 52 West freeway, a vehicle traveling the wrong-way narrowly missed a head-on collision with the marked SUV, resulting in the officer making an emergency u-turn in order to catch the driver. Deputy Collier pursued the vehicle to prevent a head-on collision with other innocent motorists on the freeway.
Before sheriff deputy Collier could catch the speeding vehicle, the Expedition entered a thick fog bank with limited visibility. DeBellis recalls seeing a quickly approaching concrete barrier shortly after entering the fog. Before either could react the vehicle struck the divider head-on – sending the vehicle in a forward roll which launched the SUV over the side of a bridge and rolling several hundred feet down a steep ravine.
DeBellis recalls thinking to himself that he was going to die in the instant he saw the divider, and then recounts considering the possibility of debris entering the vehicle and crushing him while the Expedition rolled numerous times down the ravine. When the Expedition finally came to a rest some 10 seconds later according to DeBellis’ estimates, he was able to see that the deputy was no longer in the vehicle, and that the front-end was ablaze. DeBellis said he was able to open the door and exit the vehicle, where he immediately ran in search of the deputy.
DeBellis found deputy Collier alive several hundred feet up the embankment, and was able to use the deputy’s radio to call for help while he remained with Collier until they were air-lifted from the mountainside. DeBellis, who was also hoisted from the mountainside in a rescue basket, sustained only bruising and is expected to be released from the hospital by Monday evening.
Deputy Collier later died at the hospital due to the massive internal injuries he sustained from being ejected from the vehicle.
The suspect who was traveling in the wrong direction on the freeway, Jose Jasso Lopez, 23, will be charged with vehicular manslaughter and drunken driving, according to Sheriff William Gore.
References
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1. ‘Deputy Killed in the…’ view
