Summit Fire & EMS has placed a staff member on administrative leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation into an interaction with another motorist, according to a statement from the fire protection district.

Deputy Chief of Operations John Wilkerson told Summit Daily News this week that he is the Summit Fire & EMS official on administrative leave. The fire protection district would neither confirm or deny who was placed on leave.

“Summit Fire & EMS is aware of an incident involving one of our staff who engaged in a situation with another motorist in a manner that is inconsistent with the scope of our responsibility and training,” the fire protection district’s statement said.

Reports obtained through public records requests with police departments in Frisco and Dillon show two separate incidents where Wilkerson pulled over another vehicle, one in February and one in April.

Asked about the two reports, Wilkerson said, “I did not knowingly or intentionally perform traffic stops. I observed what I felt was reckless driving behavior that endangered the public, and I worked with law enforcement on the issue.”

Wilkerson said he was acting out of “a sense of duty to act on behalf of public safety,” but added that law enforcement never told him to stop a vehicle, follow a vehicle or turn his emergency lights on. He said he turned his emergency lights for his safety as he pulled over to the side of the road in these situations.

The Dillon Police Department report states that Wilkerson was driving on U.S. Highway 6 near Keystone around 5 p.m., Feb. 8, when he called to report that the driver of a white box truck was driving recklessly.

Wilkerson reported that the box truck’s driver had come up on another vehicle at a high rate of speed before slamming on the brakes and continuing to follow the other vehicle too close while yelling expletives and honking his horn, the report states.

At the traffic light at U.S. Highway 6 and Swan Mountain Road, Wilkerson rolled down his window and told the driver of the box truck that he would contact law enforcement if the bad driving did not stop, according to the police report. The driver reportedly said he did not care.

As the box truck approached the highway’s intersection with Evergreen Road, a Dillon Police Officer was on Lake Dillon Drive and witnessed Wilkerson and the box truck pass by, the report states. 

The police officer wrote in her report that she made eye contact with Wilkerson, who pointed at the box truck in front of him as he drove by, “indicating that it was the reckless/road rage vehicle.” She reportedly acknowledged the communication with a thumbs up.

As the Dillon police officer turned onto the highway, she observed that Wilkerson “had already initiated a traffic stop” near Dillon Ridge Road “by turning on his red and blue emergency lights,” the report states. 

The police officer wrote in the report that she had also turned on her emergency lights and pulled in behind Wilkerson, who “stated he had not contacted the driver and waited for my arrival.”

Upon contacting the driver of the box truck, the Dillon police officer arrested the box truck driver on a warrant for failure to appear and brought him into the custody of the Summit County jail, the report states.

An incident report requested from the Frisco Police Department outlines a separate situation where Wilkerson stopped a vehicle on Colorado Highway 9, also known as Summit Boulevard, on April 3.

The incident report does not identify who the Summit Fire & EMS driver was in this situation, but Wilkerson confirmed the details of the report and said he was the driver, although he disputed the date, instead saying the incident happened March 4.

The report states that around 6:15 a.m., Wilkerson was driving a Summit Fire & EMS vehicle when he reported a black Chevrolet pickup truck had been going over 80 mph on Interstate 70 and driving erratically on Summit Boulevard. Wilkerson had “turned on his lights and had the person pulled over,” according to the report. 

“My lights were for my safety,” Wilkerson said, “and I did not knowingly or intentionally perform a traffic stop.”