(COLORADO SPRINGS) — The Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD) said the driver of a trash truck was unaware a motorcyclist was pinned beneath their truck when it moved out of an intersection to stop and investigate after a crash on Wednesday, April 16.

According to CSPD, on Wednesday at around 4 p.m., police were called to the intersection of East Cheyenne Road and Southgate Road near South Nevada and Lake Avenues about a crash involving a trash truck and a motorcycle.

Members of the Colorado Springs Fire Department and AMR provided medical attention to the motorcyclist, later identified by the El Paso County Coroner’s Office as 66-year-old John Elrod, before taking him to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

CSPD’s investigation discovered the trash truck was stopped at the light on E. Cheyenne Rd. and Southgate Rd. heading south, and there was also a car waiting to turn left to head east onto Southgate Rd. When the light changed green, both the car and truck waited a moment, then proceeded into the intersection. As the two vehicles entered the intersection, a motorcycle headed west on Southgate failed to stop for the red light and hit the front of the car before becoming lodged under the front of the trash truck.

The driver of the trash truck stopped for a moment at the intersection, then decided to pull through and stop to figure out what happened. The driver of the truck knew they had been hit but was not aware the motorcyclist was pinned under the truck.

CSPD said Elrod’s death is the eighth traffic fatality in Colorado Springs in 2025; at this time last year, there were 16 traffic fatalities.