RBC — A 43-year-old Iowa City, Iowa, woman is in critical condition after she was run over Monday by a semi-trailer at a gas pipeline construction site.
The woman, Bonnie Stevens, was airlifted to Saint Mary’s Hospital in Grand Junction, where she underwent surgery Monday night. She remains in critical condition, said Rio Blanco County Undersheriff Mike Joos.
A 911 call came in at 2:19 p.m. Monday that a semi-trailer had rolled over a worker at a construction site in the Piceance Basin, about 45 miles southwest of Meeker.
Stevens was operating a pilot car for the 127-foot semi-trailer, which had delivered a large piece of construction equipment. According to the Rio Blanco County Sheriff’s Office, the operator of the semi-trailer released the air brakes on the trailer without setting the brakes on the tractor.
“The victim was standing between two of those sets of (dual) tires when the trailer started to roll,” Joos said. “The victim tried to get out of the way and fell in the path of the tires. One of the set of dual tires struck the victim in the head, chest, right arm and shoulder area.”
The driver of the semi-trailer, Ronald Tolson, 64, of Lenoir City, Tenn., was charged with an unattended motor vehicle. The trucking company was East Coast Specialized Hauling of Portsmouth, Va.