A decorated Denver Police officer might lose his leg after it was run over by a Denver Fire Department truck as he was trying to keep fans who had breached the gates during the parade Thursday away from the truck.

The incident occurred about 11:30 a.m. as a fire truck carrying several players rounded the corner of 13th and Cherokee streets. Fans had breached the barricades there and Denver Police Sergeant Justin Dodge, a member of the SWAT team, was trying to keep them away from the truck carrying several players.

“The fire truck began to roll up the back of his left leg, trapping him underneath the vehicle causing a very significant lower leg injury,” Thomas said. “We were able to extricate him from underneath the fire truck, load him up in an ambulance and rushed him to Denver Health.”

A doctor from Denver Health said Sgt. Dodge was immediately sent to surgery and is in stable condition.

“He was protecting those community members from the fire trucks,” Thomas said. “He’s a veteran officer, a sergeant assigned to our SWAT team for a number of years and a very decorated officer.”

Sgt. Dodge has served the Denver Police Department since 1997, a spokesperson said.

Mayor Michael Hancock estimated more than 750,000 to 1 million people descended on downtown.

Hancock said there were an estimated 200 officers on the streets Monday night and again Thursday.

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