COLORADO SPRINGS — A District 20 plow truck driver is dead after a crash Tuesday morning in Colorado Springs.
"It is with a heavy heart I share a member of the Academy District 20 (ASD20) family passed away today," a spokesperson with D20 said in an email. "Stephen Houston, grounds technician, was involved in a car accident earlier this morning. Stephen was on duty and driving his snowplow to ensure our school grounds were safe for students and staff. We are deeply saddened by this tragedy. Stephen was a much-loved member of our facilities team. We ask that you please keep the Houston family in your hearts and thoughts during this difficult time."
Colorado State Patrol responded to the crash on Gleneagle Drive, just south of the intersection with Candlewood Court. CSP said that a 2006 Ford F250, driven by 27-year-old Stephen Houston, was headed southbound on Gleneagle Drive approaching a right-hand curve in the road. At the time, the roadway was snow covered and icy and it was actively snowing.
Authorities said that Houston failed to negotiate the curve and traveled off the left side of the roadway. The pickup truck traveled a short distance off road before dropping off a steep embankment and into a drainage culvert.
The right side of the truck collided with the opposite embankment of the culvert and the truck came to rest on its wheels.
CSP said Houston was not plowing at the time of the crash and was traveling from one school to another.
Houston was transported to Penrose Hospital in Colorado Springs where he later died.
