2 Teens Die In Crash In Wheat Ridge
WHEAT RIDGE, Colo. (CBS4) - Two teenagers are dead after an overnight SUV crash in Wheat Ridge.
Tyler Lovell, 18, of Golden was a student at Lakewood High School. His passenger, Rain Walsh, 17, also died. He was a student at Wheat Ridge High School. Two other teens, Steve Miskimon and Andre Lang Watchman, both 19-year-old Lakewood residents, remain hospitalized with extreme injuries.
The crash happened near Oak Street and 28th in Wheat Ridge around 2 a.m. The impact was enough to startle neighbors who ran to call 911. The neighbors watched as the Jaws of Life were used to free those trapped in the crash.
"I was in bed asleep until my husband said, 'Get up, there's been an accident. A car came into the house," witness Kathy Plummer said.
Steve Kirkpatrick and his wife then rushed outside to see what happened. Broken glass was everywhere. They spotted the car with four people inside wrapped around a tree.
"There was one young man still speaking," Kirkpatrick said. "He was saying, 'Help us. Please help me."
"The other person in the other side of the back seat was moaning," Plummer said.
The SUV was likely speeding down Oak Street and missed a turn on Twilight. It crashed into a pole and continued on into a Kirkpatrick's yard. It came to a crashing halt into a tree. Kirkpatrick believes he knows why the driver lost control.
"Based upon the beer case we saw lying on the ground next to the vehicle it doesn't take Dick Tracy that there was some alcohol involved to some extent," Kirkpatrick said.
"You could smell it in the car," Plummer said.
Police have not confirmed whether alcohol was involved but they do believe speed was a contributing factor.
At least three of the victims were teens ages 18 and 19.
