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Driver Arrested After Fatal Head-On Collision

AGATE, Colo. (AP) ― A truck driver from St. Louis faces charges that he drove the wrong way and killed a man in a head-on collision in Colorado, authorities said Monday.

The Colorado State Patrol said Jason Ross, 33, was arrested on seven charges, including vehicular homicide and driving under the influence of alcohol, following Sunday night's crash near Agate, about 60 miles east of Denver.

Ross was arrested after being treated at a hospital.

Authorities said Ross could have driven the wrong way for as many as nine miles on the eastbound lanes of Interstate 70 before the crash. Investigators said they don't know why Ross was driving the wrong way.

Limon police were pursuing Ross' truck when the semi collided with Martin Hernandez's vehicle. An officer was near the truck at the time of the collision, Limon Police Chief Lynn Yowell said.

Martin Hernandez, 71, of Lamar, was airlifted to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Two other passengers were injured, including Hernandez's 77-year-old wife Maria Hernandez and a 9-year-old from Evergreen, the Denver Post reported.

Maria Hernandez was in good condition Monday, and the girl was treated and released from the hospital.

Norma Richards, a neighbor of Martin Hernandez, said he was a janitor for 30 to 40 years at the Lamar High School. She told the newspaper that Hernandez and his wife visited her while she was hospitalized in Colorado Springs in July.

"They looked after me every day," Richards said.

The State Patrol said the truck was operated by USA Truck.

(© 2010 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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