Man Killed, WHP Trooper Injured After Van Hits Tow Truck on I-80

A man was killed and a Wyoming Highway Patrol trooper injured Saturday afternoon when a van plowed into a parked tow truck on Interstate 80, the patrol says.

It happened around 2:20 p.m. at mile marker 288, about 22 miles west of Laramie.

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Sgt. Jeremy Beck says a Laramie trooper and a large tow truck were parked on I-80 with their emergency lights on investigating a prior crash involving a commercial vehicle, when 79-year-old Nantucket, Massachusetts, resident Charles Ciriglian lost control of his van and collided with the back of the tow truck.

Ciriglian was wearing his seat belt but died at the scene.

Beck says the trooper, who was speaking with the tow truck driver at the time of the crash, sustained minor injuries.

This is the 16th fatality on Wyoming’s roadways in 2023 compared to four in 2022, 14 in 2021, five in 2020, and 16 in 2019 to date.

2022's Deadliest Wyoming County by Traffic Deaths

While car crashes can occur anywhere, some roads in Wyoming are more dangerous than others.

According to Wyoming Highway Patrol data, there were 117 fatal crashes in the Cowboy State in 2022 resulting in 133 deaths.

Of those fatal crashes, the majority (13.68%) occurred in Laramie County -- two in January, one in February, one in March, two in April, one in June, two in July, three in August, two in September, one in November, and one in December.

Sweetwater County saw the second most fatal crashes last year, 12, while Fremont and Lincoln counties each saw 10.

Albany and Park counties each recorded eight, and Campbell, Converse, and Natrona counties each tallied seven.

The deadliest 2022 crash in Laramie County took place on June 17 when two semis collided on Interstate 80 east of Cheyenne and immediately became engulfed in flames killing both drivers and a passenger.

Laramie County also saw two fatal crashes involving motorcyclists, two fatal crashes involving juveniles, and a fatal crash involving a pedestrian last year.

Below is the Wyoming Highway Patrol narrative of every fatal crash that occurred in Laramie County in 2022.