Crash victim loved looking ahead

Michael Sargent made "the future" his hobby. A science buff with a penchant for computers, the 39-year-old Colorado Springs man blogged for "The Speculist," a Web site that explores how emerging technology and trends might change the world. Its motto: "Live to see it."

Sargent won't get to.

He was killed after a speeding pickup ran a red light and slammed into his car at Marksheffel Road and Constitution Avenue late Thursday. The computer technician, who was heading home after working at Schriever Air Force Base, was pronounced dead at the hospital. He was wearing a seat belt, but his 2002 Saturn coupe was broadsided on the driver's side.

The driver of the pickup, 20-year-old Jason Archuleta, was not wearing a seat belt and was thrown from the truck as it rolled. Archuleta suffered serious injuries and remained hospitalized Friday night, according to the Colorado State Patrol. The state patrol said it suspects alcohol was involved because a trooper smelled it on his breath, but no charges have been filed. Toxicology results will be available in a few weeks. As of Friday night, state troopers had no intention of arresting Archuleta upon his release from the hospital, but Trooper Gilber Maref said the investigation was ongoing.

Sargent's widow, Peggy - his high school sweetheart - said Friday morning that her husband was known for his sharp intellect and sense of humor. His insatiable curiosity, especially about science and history, made him a whiz at trivia games.

His friends lovingly nicknamed him Cliff Clavin, after the know-it-all trivia buff on the TV show "Cheers." "I've been kicked out of every single Trivial Pursuit game I've ever been in," he would say.

Sargent said her husband never left her side as she struggled to rebound from open-heart surgery in 2006. "When I asked him how did he know I wasn't going to die, he told me, ‘I never doubted you. I always had faith in you.'"

The couple met while auditioning for a high school play, "The Man Who Came To Dinner," in Cheyenne, Wyo.

"I knew the first moment I saw him he was going to be my husband," she said, saying his smile first won her over.

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Gazette staff writer Carlyn Mitchell contributed to this report.

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