State Trooper Dies On I-90. Westbound closed until after rush hour

[Jim O'Bryan]

Around one pm a call came in for ambulance on I-90 immediately. Someone severely injured.

Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper Kenneth Velez, 48, was struck by a passing motorist and killed. I 90 was closed at W117, then West Blvd, and finally shut down.


Thoughts for all our first responders.

Good work Lakewood Fire, Police, and Ohio State Patrol.

More images and the story later.

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[Michael Deneen]

Sorry to hear this tragic news.
Thoughts and prayers to the family.

[Bridget Conant]

The news media in Cleveland are deplorable. The poor man is injured in some reports, dead in others.

Plain Dealer and Fox 8 are reporting he was taken to Lakewood ER, Channel 19 and WKYC claim he is at Metro Health.

No wonder no one believes anything they read anymore!

[Jim O'Bryan]

Sadly, it has been announced the State Trooper has died. Here are some images from the accident, some may find them troubling.






You can tell, the accident took a huge toll on everyone.




With the State Trooper removed, the drive of the car, Joshua Casper, age 37.






You can see the fallen officer's clothes on the car behind the accident car.


Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper Kenneth Velez, 48, gear sits on the hood of a car.


One life ended, so many lives changed forever. So much sadness.

Slow down, life is too valuable.

Good work Lakewood Police and Fire Department on a very tough day.

To the State Troopers, thoughts and prayers.

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[Lori Allen _]

This is very upsetting, especially for those of us who have family members that are in law enforcement. Many lives will be forever changed, never to be the same again. Although I am glad that the driver at fault stopped, I believe they still should charge this person with vehicular homicide. My thoughts and prayers are with the family. Very tragic and probably preventable.

[cameron karslake]

Does anyone know why the trooper was there in the first place?

[Bridget Conant]

Traffic enforcement. Either he was giving a ticket or using the radar device.

[Amy Martin]

The majority of State Troopers nationwide who are killed in the line of duty are hit by cars during traffic stops. I can't understand that with this knowledge, why our law enforcement officers continue to stop cars on the interstates. Surely there is technology to do this remotely and just send tickets in the mail as was done with the traffic cameras. An absolute unnecessary waste of life.

And Jim, I think we could have done without the shot of the guy's brains on the roof of the car that hit him.

[Bridget Conant]

Great point about pulling cars over on interstates, Amy. It seems that any vehicle stopped on a roadside is like a magnet for other cars - just waiting to get hit.

[Gary Rice]

First of all, sincere prayers for a soul, and condolences to the family of that trooper, and a thank you to all first responders.

Just heard from two friends (4:45 p.m.) that they are sitting in virtual parking lots on I-480 and I-71, so if you have loved ones trying to get home using other freeways, be patient. It may take them awhile.

Just another poignant example about how one person's death diminishes us all. Prayers all around.


No Man Is An Island John Donne (1572-1631)

No man is an island,
Entire of itself,
Every man is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thy friend's
Or of thine own were:
Any man's death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in mankind,
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee.

We'll leave the banjo aside just now.

"Flowers of the Forest" on the pipes is more appropriate.

[Stan Austin]

Gary-- you make us all weep because we know oh so well the truths you speak. Stan

[Patrick Wadden]

I'm not comfortable with a few of these photos because his three kids are going to google their fathers name some day. And there is a possibility that these images come up. Maybe a year from now, 3 years, 5 years from now and they are going to see the raw devistation and blood. The are going to have these images in their memory forever. His blood and tissue on the top of the windshield. His blood on the highway. Maybe I'm wrong but those photos could be very damaging to exactly 3 kids.

Just my opinion.

Prayers for his family.

[Jim O'Bryan]

The "Fallen Police Flag" flying at half mast tonight in honor of Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper Kenneth Velez, 48, died on I-90 this afternoon.



In the course of 4 hours, Lakewood Police and Fire went from one accident to another, starting with a roll over on Madison, followed by the death of Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper Kenneth Velez, 48, on I-90, shutting down I-90 Westbound for 5 hours. This forced traffic on all other streets to go to the breaking point, which was punctuated by another roll over on Clifton Blvd. during rush hour. Also in those handful of hours were a heroin overdose, some domestic problems, some other traffic issues and medical emergencies.

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[Jim O'Bryan]

I'm not comfortable with a few of these photos because his three kids are going to google their fathers name some day. And there is a possibility that these images come up. Maybe a year from now, 3 years, 5 years from now and they are going to see the raw devistation and blood. The are going to have these images in their memory forever. His blood and tissue on the top of the windshield. His blood on the highway. Maybe I'm wrong but those photos could be very damaging to exactly 3 kids.

Just my opinion.

Prayers for his family.

Patrick


I have updated this message.

I did not post this story easily. At the time I knew the State Trooper had died, and I also knew his next of kin, and other State Troopers were not notified. So at the time the header read "severely" injured. If it was about gore, or clicks, I have much worse photos. 2 have been deleted here. Though I am sure no one will agree with my choices.

When I got done with the editing, on the run. The entire series seemed very sterile, and like we did not just lose the life of tate Highway Patrol trooper Kenneth Velez, but because of how the entire accident unfolded, a life was lost, and so many lives changed forever. Maybe its my age, but senseless death and destruction bothers me, and I think it should bother others. I wanted to get that across in the images. I wanted all of us to understand, this was a human tragedy.

The final photo says it all. Everyone was completely drained. Seeing something like that is a bell you do not unring.

Yesterday, a women came up to me at the roll over on Clifton, thanking me for posting the photos, and keeping it real. Her son is a State Trooper, and saw nothing wrong with it. As I said in the note before, I spoke with other first responders and while they saw a troubling photo, thought the message was worth it.

I would rather not offend. I would rather post sunsets, and baby eagles, and kids laughing.

But yesterday, we lost a good person, saw lives ruined, and our police and fire do an amazing job all day long.

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[Valerie Molinski]

They are live streaming the processional for Trooper Velez on Facebook. It was incredibly moving to see Lakewood and Rocky River PD and FD on the overpasses, paying their respects.