COLORADO TROOPER INJURED IN DEADLY CRASH SAYS HE FORGIVES TEEN

Emotional words followed after an 18-year-old driver pleaded guilty Thursday morning to charges involving a car crash that killed a Colorado State Trooper.

Cody Loos pleaded guilty to careless driving resulting in death. He received 2 years probation and 300 hours of community service. The count of careless driving resulting in serious bodily injury was dismissed. Each charge could have resulted in a maximum sentence of one year in jail and a $1,000 fine.

"I'm very sorry for what happened that day," Loos told the judge.

According to investigators, on Oct. 11 Loos was driving a 1994 Ford pickup on Interstate 76, when he looked down for some sunflower seeds. When he looked back up, traffic was backed up in front of him, leading to the crash.

Traffic on I-76 had backed up because 65-year-old Terrance Rice had lost a 2,500 gallon plastic water tank he was towing. Troopers Zach Templeton and Scott Hinshaw had stopped to help load it back onto Rice's trailer.

Investigators say at about 5 p.m., Loos swerved onto the shoulder and then the median to avoid hitting the traffic in front of him but slammed his truck into the trailer and the two state troopers.

Hinshaw suffered fractures to his left fibula and right tibia. He was still wearing his motorcycle helmet when he was struck.

Templeton, who arrived in his patrol car and was not wearing a helmet, suffered a broken tibia, broken femur, lacerated spleen and severe head trauma. He was airlifted from the scene, but died the following day.

Templeton's family says they remain devastated by their loss.

"I'll never grow to be a man to ask my brother what it's like to raise a kid," said Levi Templeton, Zach's brother, as he spoke to the court on Thursday. "I can't tell you, Cody, how bad I want to hear my brother's voice."

"You were not paying attention," said Teresa Templeton, Zach's mother, to Loos. "Not to your speed, not to the traffic on the road, not to the road around you."

"His (Loos') truly inexcusable actions and reactions have had and will have an irreversible consequence on all of our lives," said Teresa Templeton.

Hinshaw also spoke at the hearing, but at times was overcome with emotion.

"I thought I could do this," said Hinshaw. "Having Zach's picture there isn't helping me at all because that's what he was wearing when I saw him lying under that pickup truck, when he took his last breath, and it kills me."

Hinshaw said for months he thought what he would say in the courtroom when he got the chance. He says he thought about what it would be like to see Loos.

"If I could change places with Zach, I'd do so in a heartbeat," said Hinshaw. "I lived through this and that guilt is absolutely unbearable."

In the end, Hinshaw says he decided on this:

"I'm willing to stand with you and do this community service with you and help you honor this man right here," he said to Loos. "You messed up Cody, that one decision cost a live. Although you did this and this should not have happened, I refuse and do not want you to let this ruin your life. Do not let it define who you are. You made a mistake. My advice to you is to be better than you can ever be, always strive to be better, always be unhappy with where you are in life."

Hinshaw says Loos needed to be forgiven and he needed to forgive.

"Carry on brother, we'll get better," he said.

The Colorado State Patrol released a statement about the plea deal on Thursday afternoon:

"On October 11, 2007, the Colorado State Patrol suffered the tragic loss of Trooper Zach Templeton and the devastating injuries to Trooper Scott Hinshaw. Since that day, our focus has been on assisting the Templeton and Hinshaw families through these trying times. It is our sincere hope that conclusion of the criminal case will further allow the Templeton and Hinshaw families to seek closure and turn a new chapter in their healing process. Additionally, the Colorado State Patrol applauds the efforts of investigators and prosecutors in this case. Now that a disposition has been reached, it is also our hope that the healing process may begin for the Loos family as well."

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