CASTLE ROCK, CO : Grand Forks native hit, killed by semi while on patrol as Colorado State trooper on Friday, November 25th 2016

A Grand Forks native was killed in the line of duty after a semi hit the Colorado State trooper Friday near Denver.Trooper Cody Donahue, an 11-year veteran of the Colorado State Patrol, was responding to an unrelated crash at 2 p.m. on Interstate 25 south of Castle Rock when he was hit and killed by a passing semi driven by Noe Gamez-Ruiz, 41, of Denver, according to the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office. Donahue was outside his car at the time of the crash.

The Sheriff’s Office has launched a criminal investigation, according to a news release, and Gamez-Ruiz, who was driving a commercial semi for Illinois-based U.S. Foods Inc., has been arrested and faces charges of careless driving resulting in death, a Class 1 misdemeanor, and failure to yield to the right of way of an emergency vehicle, a Sheriff’s Office spokesman told the Herald. Officers don’t believe drugs nor alcohol were a factor in the accident, but the crash remains under investigation and other charges are possible, the spokesman said.

Gamez-Ruiz has posted bond.

A friend of Donahue told the Herald the trooper grew up in Grand Forks and graduated from Red River High School in 2000. A GoFundMe website states he left behind a wife and two daughters. The fund, which will go to helping Donahue’s family, has raised more than $28,000 in 18 hours.

It is a sad day for the State Patrol, a spokesman with the agency said in a statement. On its Twitter account, the State Patrol said farewell to Donahue, adding he will never be forgotten.

“Cody, 1C3, we've got the watch from here brother,” one Tweet stated. “RIP. … Thoughts and prayers.”

The Donahue family has requested media respect their privacy, the State Patrol said via Twitter.

Castle Rock is a Douglas County city of roughly 53,000 people located about 30 miles south of Denver.


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Grand Forks native hit, killed by semi while on patrol as Colorado State trooper