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By Phil Helsel
A truck driver who crashed last week on a Colorado highway, causing a wreck that killed four people and seriously injured two others, was formally charged on Friday with three dozen chiefs of police. charge. It potentially risks being sentenced to decades of imprisonment, said a prosecutor.
Rogel Lazaro Aguilera-Mederos, 23, is charged with 40 counts of indictment, including six counts of first-degree assault and four counts of homicide on a vehicle, at the time of the accident from April 25 on I-70, near Denver, heading east.
District Attorney Pete Weir said that Aguilera "was driving extremely fast and recklessly" in an area where the maximum speed allowed for commercial vehicles is 45 mph. It was estimated that the semi-conduct that Aguilera was driving was "over 85 miles at the hour," the DA said.
"Mr. Aguilera was observed by a number of citizens who were driving carelessly bypassing the various traffic lanes," said Friday's Weir, county attorney for Jefferson and Gilpin counties.
The truck with a trailer squeezed into traffic heading east stopped because of an accident, which caused a fire that engulfed vehicles. The accident, which occurred in the town of Lakewood, just west of Denver, just before 5 pm, involved 28 vehicles.
Aguilera, who was slightly injured, told the police that he was driving at 45 km / h, that his brakes were not working and that the descent was causing the big platform to accelerate.
He said he tried to head to the right shoulder to avoid traffic jams. When he found that his shoulder was blocked by another semi-truck stopped, he made a force gap in the blocked traffic lanes, according to an affidavit.
Aguilera reportedly stated that he thought he was going to die and shut his eyes before hitting the stopped traffic, according to the affidavit. Another driver from I-70, who saw the U-turn past, told the police that he was "staring-eyed", looking terrified, according to the document.
Aguilera, who was born in Cuba and legally lives in Houston with a green card, has a valid commercial driver's license in Texas, officials said.
His lawyer, Robert Corry, did not immediately return a message asking for comments late Friday afternoon. Corry told reporters last week that it was a tragic accident.
"Everyone agrees that it was an accident," Corry said. "The law enforcement authorities agree that it was an accident." All those who have investigated or examined it believe that "it was an accident. it is an accident and it is tragic. "
"We believe that there has been some kind of malfunction, something and that there is quite good evidence," said Corry, adding that Aguilera had not committed no traffic violations, not even a speeding ticket.
The prosecutor said on Friday that the semi-truck had been completely destroyed, making any mechanical inspection impossible. "Let's hope we can determine if the brakes were causing the accident or some other cause," he said.
Doyle Harrison, 61, of Hudson; William Bailey, 67, from Arvada; Stanley Politano, 69, also from Arvada; and 24-year-old Miguel Lamas Arrellano of Denver, Weir's office said in a statement. Four others were injured, two seriously injured, said the prosecutor.
Aguilera is charged with six counts of first degree assault; 24 counts of attempted first degree assault; two counts of assault and four counts of homicide, Weir said.
Aguilera is also charged with a reckless conduct leader and three counts of violent crime. He is being held instead of a $ 400,000 bail.
"Potentially, Mr. Aguilera could look decades in the Department of Corrections," said the prosecutor.
Lakewood Police Chief Daniel McCasky said Friday that the wreck was the most serious of the last three decades in the field of law enforcement.
"I've never seen anything like it, and I think talking to our investigators would probably agree – we've never had an accident of this magnitude, nor have we ever had an accident. an accident of this magnitude, "said McCasky.
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