Trucker in fatal I-70 pileup charged with 40 counts
Colorado authorities have issued dozens of felony charges to a 23 year old truck driver accused of causing a massive pileup that claimed four lives.
On Friday, May 3, prosecutors announced that they were filing forty charges against truck driver Rogel Lazaro Aguilera-Mederos for his role in a fatal chain reaction crash that happened on I-70 near Lakewood, Colorado on April 25, according to CBS Denver.
Of the forty charges, 36 are felonies.
The charges include:
*4 counts of vehicular homicide by reckless driving
*6 counts of first-degree assault
*2 counts of vehicular assault by reckless driving
*2 counts of violent crime causing death or serious bodily injury
*1 count of violent crime using a weapon
*24 counts of attempted first-degree assault
*2 counts of vehicular assault by reckless driving
First Judicial District Attorney Pete Weir said, “He was operating the vehicle under circumstances where he was exhibiting extreme indifference to the value of human life.”
The crash happened on I-70 during a traffic jam. Aguilera-Mederos was hauling a load of lumber downhill when he failed to stop for the slowed traffic and crashed into several vehicles, causing a fiery pileup crash that ultimately involved 24 passenger vehicles and 4 semi trucks.
The crash left four people dead and two others seriously injured.
Aguilera-Mederos later told police that his brakes had failed but that he had only been traveling at 45 m.p.h. He said that he didn’t want to leave the roadway for fear of rolling his truck and that attempts to maneuver onto the right shoulder were blocked by another semi truck.
During a news conference to announce the charges, prosecutors say that the semi truck was completely destroyed in the fiery crash, making a mechanical investigation impossible, but they say that there are other means that they can use to determine whether brake failure contributed to the crash.
Prosecutors say that the investigation into the fatal crash is ongoing.
Officials confirmed that this video, which shows a semi driver swerving across lanes and passing a runaway truck ramp on I-70, is Aguilera-Mederos prior to last week’s crash.https://t.co/7T6Wg57Ybf pic.twitter.com/Sdk6rhKQVV
— Denver7 News (@DenverChannel) May 3, 2019