DENVER — A stand-up scooter rider was injured after striking a police officer directing Rockies game traffic and then colliding with a parked car in downtown Denver Saturday.
The scooter operator was transported to a hospital with minor scrapes, police said. The officer was not injured. Police said the rider, an adult male, was intoxicated at the time of the crash.
The collision occurred around 5:20 p.m. at 21st and Market Streets near Coors Field.
Denver Police spokesman Kurt Barnes said the rider would be charged with DUI.
"Scooters are becoming more and more prevalent, so we are seeing more DUIs (involving scooter riders)," Barnes said.
Scooter crashes are not rare by any means, according to emergency doctors at Denver Health.
"We're seeing people injured from scooter crashes almost on a daily basis," said Denver Health ER Physician Dr. Eric Lavonas. "Fortunately, most of these are fairly minor — broken wrists or broken arms — but we've seen people with life-threatening brain injuries. It's really gotten to be a big problem."
Saturday's crash comes more than a month after a fatal scooter crash on Aug. 4, marking the first scooter-related death in the city.