WALSENBURG- In what is being described as a “freak accident,” Walsenburg native David Valdez, 31, was killed last Thursday when fellow Colorado Department of Transportation worker Michael Asbury ran him over with a Ford F-450. Valdez and Asbury were part of a ten-man crew working on repairing expansion joints on First Street on ramp over I-25 in Pueblo when the accident occured. Police have reported that the audible back-up signals were working at the time of the accident, and that Valdez was at that moment walking in one of the vehicle’s blind spots.
Attempts were made to revive Valdez at the scene before he was transported to Parkview Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. There have been 57 CDOT employees killed working in construction zones since 1929.
Valdez had been an employee of the Colorado Department of Transportation since 2005. He leaves behind a son.
At his funeral in Walsenburg on Tuesday, over 100 vehicles formed the motorcade going from the church to the St. Mary’s south cemetary.
