The vehicle that caused a deadly crash that killed five people Monday night near Franktown was reported stolen in a carjacking just one hour before the crash, according to the Colorado State Patrol.
The crash happened on Colorado Highway 83 at about 4:30 p.m. Monday. The driver of a Toyota Matrix lost control while traveling southbound, then went off the right shoulder and entered the northbound lane, ejecting the driver and hitting a Ford Fusion with five passengers, CSP said.
CSP says it is unknown why the Matrix lost control.
Four of the passengers in the Ford Fusion died at the scene, including the driver, a 35-year-old male, boys aged 8 and 12 and a 12-year-old girl. The other two passengers in that car, ages 13 and 14, were airlifted to a hospital with life-threatening injuries, according to CSP. All the passengers were from Colorado Springs. None of the identities have yet been released by authorities.
There were four passengers in the backseat, none of whom were wearing seat belts, according to CSP. When asked why there were four children in the backseat and whether they were related to the driver, CSP said the investigation is ongoing.
The Matrix driver, a 31-year-old Denver man who has also not yet been named, died at the scene, CSP said. He was driving a car reported stolen in Aurora at about 3:45 p.m.
That car was reported stolen from a woman around 3:45 p.m. at the Nine Mile Station RTD parking structure, according to Gabby Easterwood, a public information officer for the Aurora Police Department.
The carjacking victim told officers she was getting into her car when a man she didn’t know approached her and held the driver’s door open as she was getting in. He asked her for a ride several times, and after she repeatedly refused, the man pulled her from the vehicle, got into the driver’s seat and drove away.
Police say it’s still unclear if the man driving the Matrix in the crash was the carjacking suspect.
“We're not necessarily making the connection between the driver of the vehicle that was involved in the crash in Franktown last night and our case, just because there’s not a lot of details to connect those yet,” Easterwood said. “We don't wanna make that connection this early on that potentially the person that was driving that vehicle is our suspect in the carjacking.”
