SUV rolls off side of Old Stage Road

A teenager was trapped for about eight hours Monday, his leg pinned beneath a Chevy Blazer against a tree after the vehicle went off Old Stage Road in Teller County and rolled down a 75-foot embankment.

The Blazer reportedly rolled 21/2 times, ejecting Caleb Stroller, 19, before becoming ensnared in trees, Colorado Springs police Lt. Stephen Tobias said.

Troy Pettenger, 20, and Dylan Smith, 19, who were passengers in the vehicle Stroller was driving, had to walk 10 miles after the crash, which happened between midnight and 2 a.m., to call for assistance, police reported. The call to police was made at 5:27 a.m. Monday, Colorado State Patrol trooper Dave Hall said.

Officials didn't know whether the men had cell phones, but "cell phones don't work up there," Tobias said.

Colorado Springs police and firefighters and the state patrol responded because they didn't know where the crash happened.

A Colorado Springs police officer reached the crashed vehicle about an hour after the call and heard Stroller calling for help. Trees hid the vehicle from view from the dirt road.

Because of the steep terrain and thick vegetation, it took firefighters about two hours to get Stroller from beneath the Blazer. He was taken by Flight for Life to Penrose Hospital with a severe leg injury, Tobias said.

Tobias didn't know if the passengers were injured in the crash, but he said he didn't think they had to be hospitalized.