July 10, 2007
Friends mourn Iraq vet hit by bus
Friends mourn Iraq vet hit by bus in Breckenridge
By John C. Ensslin, Rocky Mountain News
Friends of Lynn Scutellaro said the 28-year-old Colorado National Guard captain was passionate about the work she did.
Whether she was flying helicopters in Iraq or working with troubled kids in the Boulder County juvenile detention center, Scutellaro approached each job with a focus and intensity that was a joy to watch, they said.
That made the news that Scutellaro had been killed Saturday after she was hit by a trolley bus in Breckenridge all the more difficult to comprehend.
"I've been just devastated all day," said Stacy Mallicoat, a criminal justice professor at California State University in Fullerton, who was a graduate student and teacher when she first met Scutellaro at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
"It's the loss of a great person," Mallicoat added. "She was just a person who had a lot to contribute to society, and for that to be gone is just really sad."
Scutellaro was crossing Watson Avenue just west of Main Street in Breckenridge around 8:55 p.m. Saturday when a city trolley bus turning onto Watson hit her. The accident remains under investigation.
The Colorado State Patrol, which is conducting the investigation at the request of Breckenridge Police, reported Monday that alcohol might have been involved on Scutellaro's part. Toxicology tests are pending.
The State Patrol said alcohol is not suspected to be involved with the trolley driver, Dave Vickers, 50, of Breckenridge.
On Monday, Breckenridge City Manager Tim Gagen and Mayor Ernie Blake issued a joint statement of condolences toward Scutellaro's family.
"We are all deeply saddened by this unfortunate accident, and our deepest sympathies go out to the family," they stated.
Her family declined to comment on the accident Monday.
Her death was the first fatality involving Breckenridge's in-town transportation system since it began operating in 1987. The town took over operation of the system in 1997. It carries more than 550,000 passengers annually.
Scutellaro had been staying at a condo in Breckenridge and was in the midst of trying to build her own home, said Linda Rook, Boulder County Juvenile Services administrator, who stayed in touch with her former intern over the years.
Back then, Scutellaro was a sociology major at CU-Boulder, where she graduated in May 2002.
Joanne Belknap, who taught Scutellaro in her "women in crime" class, remembered her as an excellent student.
"She was just one of those people who - whatever she did - she was totally engaged with it," Belknap said.
Rook said Scutellaro enjoyed the flight experience she was able to log in Iraq and wrote group e-mails to her friends about her service.
"She was just an incredibly special woman for as young as she was," Rook said. "She just did so many things that a lot of people just dream about. She went and did it. Her short life was full and incredibly wonderful."