Patrol: Driver fell asleep in crash that killed Dotsero teen
Glenwood Springs Post Independent
The teenage driver apparently fell asleep before an accident a week ago on Interstate 70 that killed a 15-year-old passenger, according to a report from Colorado State Patrol.
Authorities did not suspect that alcohol or other drugs played a role in the crash at mile marker 92 just east of Rifle, the report said.
Ricardo Gomez of Dotsero was killed in the accident. The accident report listed a Glenwood Springs address for him.
The 17-year-old driver from Gypsum has not been identified, and as of last weekend, the accident remained under investigation.
He was driving a 2005 Chevrolet Colorado pickup truck east on I-70 at mile marker 92 on April 17 at about 11 p.m. The pickup veered off the left side of the interstate into the median, the patrol said.
The truck traveled in the median for 300 feet, tipped and then rolled for 150 feet before coming to rest on its roof, the patrol said in a statement.
Gomez was thrown from the vehicle. He was not wearing a seat belt, the report said. The driver was wearing a seat belt but suffered “evident” and “incapacitating” injuries, the report said. The report also said that the truck was not equipped with air bags.
The driver was taken to Grand River Hospital in Rifle after the accident, but his more recent condition is unknown.
