A long holiday weekend turned deadly for one large family when a drunk driver crashed his truck into them after a fireworks show in Grand Lake, as reported by The Denver Post. The man, L.A., has been charged with the death of G.W. and for injuring his wife and three of their eight children.
L.A., 33, was formally charged with vehicular homicide, four counts of assault for driving under the influence of alcohol, child abuse and possession of a weapon under the influence.
The arraignment was held before Judge Mary Hoak, his bail was set at $40,000 and L.A. remains behind bars at the Grand County Jail.
While G.W., 50, was pronounced dead at the scene, his wife, D.W., 49, was flown to Denver Health Medical Center with serious injuries along with their 10-year old daughter for minor to moderate injuries. The two other injured children, a 19 year-old girl and 3 year-old boy, were flown to Children's Hospital with serious injuries and are now in stable condition.
L.A. has a history of drunk driving convictions and assault crimes. Court documents reveal that in these latest charges L.A.'s blood alcohol level was 0.156 percent. The arresting officers maintain that he admitted to consuming "six or seven beers" before the accident.
A neighbor of G.W.'s family, P.V., said that the family was close and spent time taking their large RV for regular vacations. The parents, he said, were often seen walking around the neighborhood on Sundays and evenings. P.V. said that they "were wonderful people."
Staff from the family's church, Our Lady of Mountains Catholic Church, said they were devastated by the news and had plans in the works for what they could do to help the surviving family members.
L.A. drove his 2006 Ford pickup truck into the family as the group was leaving the fireworks show and walking over to get into their cars.
L.A.'s own children, aged 7 and 8, and a woman that all rode in the truck with him were not injured in the crash, according to Trooper J.L. with the Colorado State Patrol.
Following the accident U.S. 34 was closed for several hours beginning at 10:30 p.m. for the State Patrol investigation.
Of L.A.'s prior offenses, they began with his guilty plea in 1997 to possession and consumption of alcohol by a minor. In 1998 he was found guilty of misdemeanor assault. In 2002 he pleaded guilty to harassment after being arrested for assault. According to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation records, and also in 2002, L.A. served 16 days in jail for a drunk driving arrest. In 2005 he pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct after being arrested for fighting.
If you have been charged with DUI, DWI, OUI or OWI contact a DUI attorney to best represent you in court. Don't delay working on your defense as your charges can result in fines, loss of driving privileges, jail time and more.