4/10/2025 |
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Outside Centennial in late March, a Montana man was struck and killed while assisting another driver.
The incident happened at night, around 10:30 p.m., on Sunday, March 23. Wyoming Highway Patrol troopers responded to a two-vehicle crash with injuries at mile marker 22 on Highway 130.
In a statement, Wyoming Highway Patrol Trooper Ryan Gerdes wrote that 18-year-old Sheridan resident Geertz O’Leary was driving a silver 2012 Ford F-150 eastbound toward Laramie on Highway 130 at a high rate of speed. Approximately five miles east of Centennial, O’Leary lost control of his vehicle, struck guardrails on both sides of the road, and came to rest sideways in the westbound lane.
Soon after, 18-year-old Riggin Schaffer, from Broadus, Montana arrived on the scene. Schaffer parked his vehicle in the eastbound lane and went to assist O’Leary.
A few minutes later, 49-year-old Centennial resident Timothy John was traveling westbound to his home hometown, when he arrived at the crash scene.
In Trooper Gerdes’s statement, John is said to have been unable to see Schaffer or O’Leary’s disabled truck due to the way the vehicle came to rest after the crash. The Centennial man collided with O’Leary’s truck, crushing Schaffer between the two vehicles, killing him instantly.
Schaffer was attending night classes for automotive restoration at WyoTech in Laramie.
O’Leary was also injured and taken by ambulance to Ivinson Memorial Hospital. The Highway Patrol did not elaborate on the extent of O’Leary’s injuries. Highway Patrol Troopers cited O’Leary for a First Offense Driving While Under the Influence, Open Container, Minor in Possession of Alcohol, and Failure to Maintain a Single Lane of Travel.
The Centennial man, Timothy John, was not suspected of being impaired at the time of the crash.
Additional charges may be brought forth after the Albany County Attorney’s Office completes its investigation.
