FORT COLLINS - The driver of a white utility van involved in a crash Friday afternoon that closed northbound Interstate 25 near Fort Collins has died from his injuries at Medical Center of the Rockies.
The driver of the van has been identified as Dale T. Walter, 51, of Loveland.
The 1991 Ford Econoline van that Walter was driving collided with the back of an 18-wheel tractor-trailer in the right-hand lane of I-25 north of the Colorado State Patrol Office at Mile Marker 266½., according to the Colorado State Patrol. Walter was not wearing a seat belt.
The front end of the van was crushed and the windshield was broken. Walter was airlifted to MCR.
The driver of the red Kenworth tractor-trailer is Joseph N. Roper of Fort Lupton. He was uninjured in the crash.
CSP Trooper Paul Cherico said two other crashes north of the tractor-trailer and van crash, near the Port of Entry at Mile Marker 267, likely contributed to the crash as traffic was slowed in the area.
Cherico said witness accounts indicated two tractor-trailers were moving slowly in the right-hand lane of northbound I-25 followed by the utility van. The tractor-trailer directly in front of the van moved into the left-hand lane, while the van continued in the right lane where it struck the first tractor-trailer as it was slowly rolling forward.
Northbound traffic on the interstate was shut down for about two hours as CSP investigated the crash.
Alcohol and drugs are not suspected of being contributing factors.
This story written by Nate Taylor, Fort Collins Coloradoan.
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