A 14-year-old girl was hospitalized early Thursday morning after being struck while walking in a Palisade intersection by an off-duty Grand Junction police officer who was driving to work in his patrol car.
The girl's injuries were not expected to be life-threatening, after she was hit by the vehicle before 7 a.m. in the intersection of West Eighth Street and Kluge Avenue, according to a statement from the Grand Junction Police Department.
Neither the name of the police officer nor the girl was released Thursday. Authorities released no other details about the accident, including where in the intersection the girl was hit, which direction she was walking, or which direction the officer was driving, pending the results of an investigation.
The police officer was not placed on administrative leave Thursday, but the incident is being reviewed by the Palisade Police Department and the Colorado State Patrol, and also faces an internal review by the Grand Junction Police Department.
Details about the incident will be released once an investigation is completed in a day or two, Palisade Police Chief Deb Funston said.
"Whether we are dealing with a citizen or a police officer, the investigation is conducted the same," she said.
Three crosswalk areas with several signs indicating school crossings are visible on West Eighth Street, which is also U.S. Highway 6, a four-lane highway that connects Palisade to Clifton.
One of the crosswalk areas is at the southeast corner of Veteran's Memorial Park at Kluge Avenue. Another crosswalk is farther west on West Eighth Street, and a third, lighted crosswalk is located between Peach and Iowa avenues.
Two clerks at the C&F Food Store off Kluge Avenue said Thursday that students and elderly people regularly use the crosswalk that they can see from the store's front windows. On Thursday, police retrieved video footage of the area from the store, a clerk said.
Grand Junction police spokeswoman Heidi Davidson said the department expects to follow protocol and allow the other departments to conduct their investigations. Davidson said police are following up with the girl's family at the hospital and they are being cooperative.
"We understand that law enforcement is held to a high standard, as well they should be," Davidson said. "We want to do the necessary follow-up and be up front and transparent about that. It's so scary for a family when something like this happens."
