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Stranger attempted to save man killed in Breckenridge crash Saturday

Caddie Nath
summit daily news
Special to the DailyBlake Roberts, 21, was killed in a rollover crash on Ski Hill Road in Breckenridge early Saturday morning.
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Tim Gleason was heading down Ski Hill Road in Breckenridge early Saturday morning when he came upon an automobile accident.

Near the intersection of Four O’Clock Road, a Jeep was lying on its side on the edge of the road, a young man was severely injured on the ground and a stranger was trying desperately to help.

“There was a young lady flagging me down, and when I looked behind her I could see the scene of the accident,” Gleason remembered. “I felt like I froze, but all this girl was asking me for was my shoes.”



Blake Roberts, 21, a passenger in the Jeep, had been thrown from the vehicle. The woman was trying to get to him to perform CPR, but he was surrounded by glass from the crash and she wasn’t wearing shoes, Gleason said.

She had apparently heard the accident from her home nearby and responded without stopping to put on shoes.



Gleason did the only thing he could to help – he gave her the shoes he was wearing.

Sitting at the victim’s feet, he said he then watched the stranger try to save Roberts’ life as 911 dispatchers guided her through CPR over the phone.

“I just hope this girl feels good and knows she did everything (she could),” Gleason said. “I’ve never seen somebody so selfless … for her to provide this man CPR and try to give him the breath of life with no regard to her own well-being. That blows my mind.”

The Summit Daily has been unable to obtain the woman’s name.

Roberts’ injuries were serious and, despite the stranger’s efforts, he later died.

Originally from Edina, Minn., Roberts had lived in Summit County for approximately three years, according to a statement from the Summit County Coroner’s Office.

Friends described him as a happy-go-lucky young man who loved snowboarding and living in the mountains.

“He loved life, and he loved being young,” Roberts’ friend Ali Gingras posted on her blog in the days after the accident. “(He) had his whole life in front of him.”

Gingras remembered both her and Roberts’ first winter in Summit County, when he decided not to drive for the entire season because he loved being able to walk wherever he needed to go. By spring, his car had a flat tire and had to be dug out and then towed out.

The crash that killed Roberts occurred just after 2 a.m. Saturday morning. The driver, Maverick James Bain, reportedly lost control of the vehicle as he was heading into a right-hand curve at a high rate of speed, a witness told police.

The car began to slide, Bain over- corrected and the Jeep rolled, coming to rest on the passenger’s side.

Bain, 24, of Breckenridge had reportedly been drinking and has been charged with vehicular homicide, vehicular assault and DUI.

He was released from the Summit County Jail on a $15,000 bond, according to the Summit County Sheriff’s Office.

Bain and four passengers were in the car at the time of the accident. Breck police were still searching for one of the passengers, Andrew Lee Kirk, 24, of Broomfield, early this week.

Authorities say he’s not facing charges, but they want to ensure he wasn’t injured in the wreck.

“Our primary reason for wanting to contact him was for safety reasons,” Breckenridge Police Department spokeswoman Kim Green said. “We just want to make sure everyone was OK, and we wanted to question them and see what they remembered about the events of the night and how the accident occurred.”

Anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of Kirk is asked to contact the Breckenridge PD at (970) 668-6800.


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