DENVER (AP) – The Colorado State Patrol has withdrawn the $22 jaywalking ticket issued to a good Samaritan who was seriously injured by a pickup after he pushed three people out of its path.

Bus driver Jim Moffett of Denver and another man were helping two elderly women cross a busy Denver street in a snowstorm when he was hit Feb. 20.

Moffett, 58, suffered bleeding in the brain, broken bones, a dislocated shoulder and a possible ruptured spleen. He remained hospitalized in serious condition Friday.

A long road

“He’s doing better, but it’s going to be a long, hard road for him,” said his wife, Donna. “His knee is just completely destroyed, his shoulder was badly dislocated, he’s got a lot of internal injuries.”

The State Patrol said in a statement that it withdrew the citation “after examining the … circumstances” and consulting with prosecutors. Colorado State Patrol spokesman Sgt. John Hahn said the citation didn’t meet the standard to be filed in court.

The patrol initially said that despite Moffett’s intentions, jaywalking contributed to the accident. “We can certainly appreicate the good deeds of anybody who puts themselsves in harms way,” Hahn said. “But obviously we would like for people to consider their own safety when they act.”

The patrol also withdrew jaywalking citations against the other good Samaritan and one of the two women. The other woman wasn’t cited because troopers said she wasn’t directly involved.

Citation stands

A citation against the pickup driver for careless driving resulting in injury still stands.

The two women and the other good Samaritan were passengers on Moffett’s Regional Transportation District bus.

“He told his son he’d do it again, which really upsets me because he almost lost his life,” Donna Moffett said.

The pickup driver, 48-year-old Steve David of Denver, said he has contacted Moffett and has been praying for him. David said he wasn’t speeding and that visibility was poor because of a snowstorm and lack of street lights.

“It’s just horrible to ruin somebody’s life like that,” David said, adding that he will contest the ticket. “I haven’t really eaten or slept much since it happened.”

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Associated Press writer P. Solomon Banda contributed to this report.

AP-ES-02-27-09 2218EST