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A total of 40 charges were laid against a truck driver accused of stacking 28 cars last week. Colorado Highway 70 this led to four deaths. Prosecutors allege that Rogel Lazaro Aguilera-Mederos, 23, was driving a semi-trailer when he lost control of his position and crashed into a traffic jam already stuck on the I-70.
"He drove the vehicle in circumstances where he showed extreme indifference to the value of human life," Jefferson County Attorney Pete Weir told CBS Denver on Friday.
Weir stated that there was a "relationship" between each charged indictment and a separate person killed or seriously injured or at serious risk of bodily injury or death. "The number of counts of indictment reflects the scale of the incident and the number of people injured or who could have been injured by his actions," Weir said.
The accident occurred on April 25 on Interstate 70 just after his descent from the mountains to the west of Denver. The pileup involved 28 vehicles and multiple explosions. Aguilera-Mederos told investigators that the brakes on his trailer had failed.
The truck was traveling at a speed of at least 85 mph in an area where commercial vehicles are limited to 45 mph, police said.
Police also said that just before the accident, the truck had crossed a roadside ramp, designed to safely stop trucks and other vehicles that had lost their brakes.
The speed truck had a "free and clear path" towards the ramp but was moving away instead, the police said.
The trailer was destroyed in the accident, making mechanical inspection impossible, but investigators were trying to determine if there was any other way to determine if the brakes were working, a Weir said.
Aguilera-Mederos was informed of the charges during a Friday court appearance in Jefferson County Jail, where he remained in custody on a $ 400,000 bail.
The charges against Aguilera-Mederos also include six counts of first degree assault and 24 counts of attempted first degree assault. Of the 40 counts, 36 are crimes, Weir said.
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