HOG rally-goer critically injured

MONTROSE — A Pueblo police officer was critically injured during a Saturday crash on North Townsend.

Daniel Pratt, 48, of Pueblo West, Colo., was participating in this weekend's HOG rally. He was northbound on Townsend at the 900 block, with his wife, Wendy Ward, on the back of his 2004 Harley, when a 2000 Saturn driven by Guadalupe Hermosillo turned onto Townsend in front of the couple.

According to police reports, Hermosillo had first been motioned to enter the roadway by the driver of a white truck, which could not be located. She also told officer she had not seen the motorcycle.

Reports indicate Pratt tried to avoid the collision. He applied his rear break and skidded for more than 40 feet, released his rear brake for 11 feet and steered west, reapplying the rear break and skidding for nearly 17 more feet before impact.

Pratt and Ward were thrown onto the hood of the Hermosillo vehicle, then across it, and into the median.

Ward was hospitalized in Montrose. Pratt, whom Montrose Police Chief Tom Chinn identified as a Pueblo Police Department officer, was flown from Montrose Memorial Hospital to a Denver hospital with life-threatening injuries.

It was Chinn's understanding Pratt was critical this morning.

Charges are pending the completion of the investigation.