Most Viewed Stories
Hundreds attend vigil for tow-truck driver
The Allen Rose Memorial Fund to help his wife and two children has been established at Key Bank, 3085 S. Academy Blvd. Donations can be made at any Key Bank.
Tow trucks slowly covered the worn pavement Thursday night where Allen Rose began his last job.
Stepping out of their rigs, a few dozen people held roses; others cradled candles. Some of them wiped tears from their eyes as a couple women unpacked purple, pink and white tulips for the growing crowd.
Then they all fell silent.
“This is the point where it all began,” said Reggie Lawson, assistant manager of the Hill Park Apartments. “We’re going to roll down to the spot where it all ended.”
Flipping on the yellow lights atop their rigs, tow truck drivers along with dozens of residents from across the Pikes Peak region mourned Allen Rose, 35, who was dragged to death a day earlier while trying to tow an illegally parked SUV.
The married father of two was remembered as a man dedicated to his profession — one who quickly became a leader among local tow drivers.
An Iraq war veteran, he settled into the industry quickly, serving as the former president of the Pikes Peak chapter of the Towing and Recovery Professionals of Colorado.
“He believed in what he was doing,” said Sean McMahon, owner of Arthur’s Towing. “He was enthusiastic about what he did.”
To honor that dedication, more than 100 tow trucks assembled under the setting sun, briefly closing off parts of Murray Boulevard and Platte Avenue to make way for a procession that spanned nearly half a mile at times.
“It wasn’t really planned — it was all of us coming together,” said Anthony Vargas, owner of Pinky’s High Country Towing, while driving down Platte Avenue. He was flanked by three of his company’s seven rigs. “There ain’t no way to fix what happened.”
Most of the trucks traced the route where the SUV dragged Rose, ending at a vigil off Platte Avenue near Babcock Avenue where Rose’s body came to a rest.
Some stood on the asphalt stained with Rose’s blood, looking solemnly at a monument of orange, red, blue and white flowers. Others came up to hand checks and cash to John Stellabotte and another tow truck driver collecting donations for the family.
“Nothing like this should ever happen to anybody,” said Stellabotte, owner of J & J Towing and Rose’s business partner. He estimated the tow would have cost $230. “Now we’re talking about the cost of someone’s life.”
Few people held candles at this vigil. Small wax-fed flames at the base of the memorial were overshadowed by the bright amber glow eminating from scores of tow trucks parked on the side of the road.
As dusk fell, the tow drivers honked their horns.
“The magnitude of it is just incredible,” said Jim Conrad, who neither knew Rose nor works in the towing industry.
“This shows that there still is love in our world,” his wife, Anita, added.
—
Call the writer at 476-1654.
