Two drivers will be charged in the post-Fourth of July road-rage incident on South Sheridan Boulevard that left a woman dead and injured four people, including three children, Denver police Detective Virginia Lopez said Thursday.
The district attorney’s office accepted the police recommendation to file felony vehicular homicide, reckless driving and three counts of child abuse charges against Marcos Alfonso Briones Madrid, 22, Lopez said.
Madrid, believed to be the driver of a silver Dodge Intrepid, is in custody, she added.
Jesus Cruz, 27, will be charged with driving while ability impaired, hit and run and following too closely, Lopez said.
Cruz, his common-law wife, Alicia Arana, 26, and their three children – Savannah Cruz, 9, Sierra Cruz, 7, and Jesus Manuel Cruz Jr., 5 – were injured when the Intrepid collided with a 1979 GMC pickup driven by Cruz, sending it into oncoming traffic at South Sheridan Boulevard and West Cedar Avenue at 12:43 a.m. Tuesday.
Arana died Wednesday. Several of her organs were transplanted.
The two girls have been released from the hospital, and the boy is in stable condition, 9News reported.
Family members said both vehicles had been revving their engines and sped away from a traffic light just before the accident. The Intrepid was found abandoned nearby.
The pickup was spun into a stolen SUV in the accident. Madrid and the driver of the SUV fled from the scene. The SUV driver is still at large.
Arana was thrown from the pickup and struck her head. Cruz hit his head on the back window of the truck, suffering a gash that required five staples to close, and he had a broken shoulder.
Staff writer Jim Kirksey can be reached at 303-820-1448 or jkirksey@denverpost.com.
