Palmer Lake police chief Gilliana dead at age 54

Palmer Lake Police Chief Dan Gilliana, a longtime area law officer and criminal justice instructor, died Friday morning. He was 54.

Gilliana died unexpectedly, said Palmer Lake Mayor Max Parker, who declined to say what the cause was.

Gilliana had been chief of the northern El Paso County town’s nine-officer force since December 2006. Sgt Nikki Tezak will be acting chief until a replacement is selected, Parker said.

“This a big loss for Palmer Lake,” Parker said. “Dan was a police professional, and he brought that to our police force.”

Originally from Indiana, Gilliana moved to Parker in 1983 and soon started work as an officer with the Parker Police Department.

In 1989, Gilliana was seriously injured when his patrol car collided with another vehicle on Colorado Highway 83. A passenger in the other vehicle, a 58-year-old Franktown woman, died in the crash.

The Colorado State Patrol determined Gilliana was not at fault, and no charges were filed against him. He had to undergo eight months of physical therapy for injuries to his skull, legs and back, he said.

Gilliana’s time in Parker included a brief stint in 1995 as interim police chief. By 1998, Gilliana had left to work for the Elbert County Sheriff’s Department, and a few years later he started working shifts for the Palmer Lake police.

He also was a professor at Colorado Technical University.