Speed and alcohol may have played a role in the two-crash incident that claimed the life of a good samaritan who stopped to help a disabled motorist on Highway 130 between Laramie and Centennial in southern Wyoming.
Just after 10 p.m. on March 23, a dark and cloudy sky hung over the highway connecting the two towns. Snow flurries and a lack of lighting on the roadway made it hard to see, according to details released Monday by the Wyoming Highway Patrol.
At milepost 22 where the two-lane, east-west stretch of highway crosses a bridge, an 18-year-old traveling “at a high rate of speed” lost control of the 2012 silver Ford F-150 he was driving.
The pickup pinballed off both guardrails “continued spinning and eventually came to rest completely blocking the westbound lane with the front end facing south and the driver’s side door facing east,” according to WHP’s report.
Another 18-year-old, Riggin Schaffer, a student at WyoTech in Laramie, stopped to assist the driver of the F-150. Then at about 10:34 p.m., WHP reports a second F-150 heading west toward Centennial T-boned into the crashed truck, striking Schaffer and killing him at the scene.
WHP identified the 18-year-old driver of the silver F-150 involved in the initial crash as Nathan Geertz O’Leary of Sheridan. He was transported by ambulance to Ivinson Memorial Hospital.
“Troopers were unable to arrest Geertz O’Leary at the time due to his medical needs,” according to the WHP report, which suspected Geertz O’Leary was under the influence of alcohol.
O’Leary was ticketed for DUI, open container, minor in possession of alcohol and failure to maintain a single lane of travel, the agency reports.
Riggin Schaffer, 18, was killed March 23 when he stopped to help a driver hurt in a highway crash and was hit by another vehicle that came upon the scene. (Courtesy Photo) 
If Riggin Schaffer went after something, ‘It was with his whole soul,” said his mother Stephanie Schaffer. (Courtesy GoFundMe) 
Bram Schaffer and Riggin as a young cowboy. (Courtesy Madeline York) 
Stephanie Schaffer and Riggin as a young wrestler. (Courtesy Madeline York) 
Madeline York, from left, Bram Schaffer, Riggin Schaffer and Stephanie Schaffer. (Courtesy Madeline York)
Second Crash
The WHP report did not specify exactly where Schaffer was coming from when he came upon O’Leary’s vehicle and stopped to assist.
Schaffer’s family told Cowboy State Daily last week that they wonder if O’Leary may have called Schaffer asking for help.
In the report, WHP states that, “While driving eastbound on Highway 130, 18-year-old Riggin Schaffer from Broadus, Montana, saw Geertz O’Leary’s disabled pickup ahead.”
That means Schaffer was traveling toward Laramie when he stopped to help.
Schaffer was a collision repair student at WyoTech and worked at Snowy Range Ski Area.
He spent March 23 at the ski area, then according to his mother Stephanie Schaffer, was home at his apartment in Laramie around 7 p.m. when she talked to him.
It's unclear why Schaffer was traveling on Highway 130 around 10:30 p.m. WHP told Cowboy State Daily on Monday that, "The investigating trooper did not know where Schaffer came from that night."
“Schaffer stopped in the eastbound lane, exited his vehicle and approached Geertz O’Leary’s pickup,” the WHP reports. “Schaffer went around to the driver’s side, attempting to check on Geertz O’Leary.”
Then, just past 10:30, a 49-year-old from Centennial came upon the scene driving westbound on Highway 130 in a white 2010 Ford F-150.
That driver “was unable to see Geertz O’Leary’s pickup blocking the lane and Schaffer standing on the driver’s side,” according to the WHP. “The front of (his) pickup struck Schaffer and the driver’s side of Geertz O’Leary’s pickup.”
O’Leary’s pickup sustained additional damage on the driver’s side, and the second pickup “suffered heavy front-end damage,” according to the report.
Troopers arrived just a few minutes later and “did not suspect impairment” on the part of the 49-year-old and he wasn’t ticketed.
The Albany County Attorney’s Office continues to review the case, according to the WHP release.
The WHP thanked the Albany County Sheriff’s Office, the Laramie Fire Department and the Centennial Volunteer Fire Department, along with the WHP Crash Team, which responded to help investigate the fatality.
If there’s any toxicology report associated with those involved in the crash, including Schaffer, “That will be determined at a later date because tox takes a while,” Trooper Ryan Gerdes told Cowboy State Daily.
David Madison can be reached at david@cowboystatedaily.com.
