CARROLL COUNTY, VA. -- A U.S. Army sergeant from Colorado Springs died Monday night after crashing his car into a boulder in Virginia.
Su Wan Ko, a 31-year-old active duty soldier, was driving on I-77 about four miles north of the Virginia/North Carolina border when he hit the boulder. Police said they got a call about a boulder on the interstate around 8:25 p.m., and about a minute later got another call about a car that had struck the boulder on Fancy Gap Mountain in Carroll County.
Police said it appeared Ko did not see the boulder because there were no skid marks on the road indicating he had tried to stop or swerve. In the dark, police said Ko would have had a hard time seeing it, but it blocked the entire left lane.
The boulder, which was about the size of a compact car, likely fell because the area had received more than five inches of rain the day before, according to police.
Fort Carson officials said Ko was not stationed at their base. Army officials notified Ko's family Wednesday.
Information from the Roanoke Times was used in this story
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