Gunnison student killed in rollover on Ohio Creek Road

Two others sustain minor injuries

Colorado State Patrol officers responded to a vehicle rollover on Ohio Creek Road on Sunday night. The one-vehicle crash occurred just before dusk about 11 miles up Ohio Creek Road from Gunnison, and left one 19-year-old dead. Two 17-year-olds sustained minor injuries.

According to Colorado State Patrol Sergeant John Ehmsen, the 1993 Grand Cherokee had come over Kebler Pass and was traveling southbound on Ohio Creek Road. The crash occurred near Castleton Ranch when the vehicle went off the road and the driver over corrected.
“They went off the road on the right side of the road, the driver corrected real hard—a little too hard—so he corrected the other way,” Ehmsen said. The vehicle rolled twice and came to a rest on its wheels adjacent to the ditch.
Western State Colorado University student Evan Dirksen was ejected from the front passenger seat as the vehicle rolled and succumbed to resulting injuries. The driver and the passenger in the rear seat, who were both wearing seatbelts, were treated and released from Gunnison Valley Hospital. Because they are minors their identities are being withheld, but Ehmsen did confirm they are students at Gunnison High School.
“The young man [ejected from the vehicle] was not wearing a seatbelt,” Ehmsen said. “It’s very sad to see, and it’s even more tragic when it’s a young person. It hits the community with a greater impact.”
The accident happened just before dusk, and Ehmsen confirmed that troopers were able to conduct some investigation before darkness fell. A state trooper also interviewed the driver at the hospital and concluded there were no signs of impairment due to drugs or alcohol. A state patrol reconstructionist will visit the scene this week to further analyze the crash site.
“We will continue to investigate and hope to get follow-up interviews with the driver and follow-up on the investigation to figure out why it happened,” Ehmsen said. “We know what happened, we just don’t know why it happened.”