Family suggests State Patrol covering up for driver after girl killed on bike

As Justine Little, of Strasburg, was being airlifted to a hospital, the speeding driver who hit her was driving his damaged truck home without so much as a traffic ticket.

Her parents say that decision by the Colorado State Patrol, and a series of inaccuracies in the initial police report, suggest a cover-up aimed at protecting the volunteer firefighter behind the wheel, 9News reports.

Few facts surrounding the June 29 accident are agreed upon except that Justine and a friend were riding their bikes on Monroe Street when the 14-year-old was hit from behind by a pickup driven by 23-year-old Cory Linnebur of Strasburg.

Justine died the next day.

The initial report filed by the state patrol indicates Linnebur was going 10 miles an hour over the speed limit with obscured windows.

More than a month later, he has yet to be cited. Troopers allowed him to drive his truck home from the scene.

“Why did they let that truck go? Why did they let that evidence go?” asked Curtis Little, Justine’s father. “You would think that with the death, they would do a good investigation and find out what really happened and make it right but that just didn’t happen.”

“They let the biggest piece of evidence drive away. That amazes me,” said Jennifer Gifford, the Little’s attorney.

A state patrol spokesman says the investigation has been handled properly.

“Necessary evidence at the scene was processed, including the vehicle,” Sgt. John Hahn said.

The press release issued by the state patrol clearly suggests Justine was at fault for the crash.

It states she turned her bike in front of the vehicle. Gifford says the trooper involved in accident reconstruction, Trooper Timothy Deen, now admits that didn’t happen.

The release says Justine was wearing dark clothing, did not have a helmet and did not have a light on her bike.

Her parents say her outfit was not entirely dark colored. She was not legally required to wear and helmet and it’s unknown what protective effect it would have had when she was hit by a truck travelling 40 miles per hour that did not brake.

Colorado law requires a headlight for bicycles operated at night. The press release states the time of the crash as 9:45 P.M, but the state patrol now admits it happened 20 minutes earlier, a crucial difference in the waning light of the summer night.

The initial police report indicates the bike did not have reflectors. Photos of the bike reviewed by 9NEWS show it has reflectors still visible despite the damage caused by the crash.

The state patrol declined to talk about that inaccuracy or other specifics about the investigation but denied troopers were protecting a fellow first responder.

Click here for the 9News story.