Mother Defends Son In Hit & Run Case

DENVER (CBS4) - The mother of a man who owns an SUV that police are studying for a possible connection to a hit-and-run talked to CBS4 with her side of the story.

Augustine Arroyo's mother says her son was not driving his 1993 Chevy Blazer the night a pregnant woman was run over in Denver's Stapleton neighborhood. Police are now looking at a hair found underneath the truck to see if it matches Laurie Gorham, the victim in the hit-and-run.

The truck was impounded from a Wal-Mart parking lot at Quebec Street and Smith Road in Stapleton, just a few blocks from where Gorham was hit.

Arroyo's mother says the investigation has been a burden on the family, but strongly defended her son.

"The day that that lady had got (hit) I know for a fact my son was here," she said.

She told CBS4 her son was at home all day doing yard work and that night he stayed up late watching movies. The next day she saw the story on the news and woke him up.

"I said some lady in Denver got hit by a car and I said they're looking for a black truck or a black Blazer. And I said, 'With the damages on your car right away they're going to think they're your damages.'"

She says he was in an accident in October and that's where the damage came from.

"I got pictures of when he got in that accident at the end of October, I got pictures, I can show you the pictures."

CBS4 never saw the pictures. She was also asked about the hair found on his car.

"Everybody's always working on his car; he's got cousins that are mechanics always working on that car.

"My son, number one, has a big heart. He would never, never leave the scene of any accident. If he ever hit anyone, he would stay there, guaranteed."

A different man and woman were questioned by police last week, but they were released.

Gorham is recovering at her parent's home.