Police in Fort Collins, Colorado, arrested a construction flagger this week in connection with a semi truck crash that killed a woman in July.
On November 4, 2025, Fort Collins Police Services (FCPS) announced that Rudolph Baldivia, 64, was booked into the Larimer County Jail on a felony count of Criminally Negligent Homicide in the death of 53-year-old school teacher Catherine Withrow.
Withrow lost her life on July 06, 2026, at intersection of East Mulberry Street and Whedbee Street in Fort Collins, Colorado.
Officials said she was walking her bicycle across Mulberry Street with construction personnel present when she was struck by a semi truck working on the construction project.
Withrow died at the scene.
Following months of “comprehensive investigation work,” a charge was filed against construction flagger Baldivia.
FCPS said that the investigation determined that the truck driver was not at fault and that Baldivia placed Withrow in an unsafe location.
“The Collision Reconstruction and Scene Handling team led the investigation of this complex case which required significant processing, interviews, and follow-up. They determined the driver of the semi-truck was operating the vehicle within established safety protocols and that the construction flagger had positioned himself and the bicyclist in an unsafe place, making it impossible for the semi-driver to see either of them,” police said.
“I recognize that today’s announcement will not lessen the pain this family and so many friends have endured, nor will it erase the grief they will continue to carry,” said FCPS Chief Jeff Swoboda. “But my hope is that today brings some measure of closure, knowing that we have taken an important step toward accountability and justice.”
See the video below for more.
Fort Collins Police Services (FCPS) is providing an update to the fatal crash that occurred on July 6, 2026, at the intersection of Mulberry St. and Whedbee St.
Access the full release at https://t.co/EPCUZMUV1F https://t.co/TaT3no91bY
— Fort Collins Police (@FCPolice) November 4, 2026
