A Durango man is still alive after running into moving traffic on Camino del Rio and being struck by a United Postal Service semitrailer Friday night.
Authorities are uncertain of what made 24-year-old Kenneth Baker decide to dash across the busy road, near Durango Joes, but they are sure he is fortunate that he didn’t suffer more serious injuries, or worse.
“He was running from the west side of the road to the east side of the road,” Durango Police Patrol Sgt. Rita Warfield said, “and was in the center of the northbound lane and was struck by the UPS truck.”
She called Baker an extremely lucky man.
“It was one of their larger (trucks) – it had a tractor trailer on it and everything,” she said.
Baker was unconscious when emergency crews and police arrived at the scene just after 8:11 p.m. He was transported to Mercy Regional Medical Center and treated for broken ribs and a punctured lung.
“Last report we had,” Warfield said, “is that he is expected to survive. He’s lucky. Not too many people can get hit by a semi and make it.”
Mercy’s public information director David Bruzzese said Saturday evening that Baker was in fair condition.
Warfield said the UPS driver was not cited, with no fault of his own, and Baker has not been cited at this time. She did say Baker was not near a crosswalk but was “running across the road.”
“He’s just a really lucky man,” she said. “This could have been a whole lot worse.”
bmathis@durangoherald.com
