Wheat Ridge – The blood smeared on teen actors’ prom clothes was fake, but the emergency response was real Tuesday during a drunken-driving accident staged on Wheat Ridge High School’s doorstep.
“We want you to have fun, but this isn’t fun. Fun is being able to go home and talk about prom night for years to come,” police Sgt. Jim Cohen said.
The message during prom and graduation season, Cohen said, is “Don’t drink and drive, and don’t get in a car with a driver who has been drinking. Just don’t make a bad decision.”
Hundreds of students braved a chill wind to watch fire, police, ambulance, helicopter, towing and coroner crews descend on the two-car crash.
“This was awesome,” said Sheila Manning, 15, who was among the onlookers.
Mirage Towing hauled in cars for the demonstration and crunched them with a tow truck.
Then students in the school’s advanced acting class were placed in and around the vehicles, with police officers giving them direction.
“You’re seriously hurt. You don’t have to be unconscious, but you can if you want,” an officer told a student seated inches from a shattered windshield.
As the school emptied to watch, Brittany Bustin, 17, lay motionless on the asphalt, her white dress soaked in blood. Later, the coroner would zip her into a body bag.
Amy Wagner, 15, and Kevin Kline, 18, were critically injured in the back seat, with Wagner wailing, “Get me out of here,” and Kline pressing a bloody hand against the back window.
Firefighters cut them out of the vehicle by peeling back the roof and ripping out seats.
Measurements and photos would be used to reconstruct the accident, which became a crime scene when alcohol was found and drivers flunked roadside sobriety tests.
“This is how it is, and this will help,” Wagner said later as she sat in an ambulance.
Jennifer Roelofs, 15, said this “will actually make a difference” with classmates who plan to attend Friday night’s prom. “This could be them.”
The mock crash was the students’ special project, said drama teacher Autumn Ehrhardt, who added, “I think they got As.”
Ward Watson, training officer with Wheat Ridge Fire/Rescue, said the accident re-enactment is worth it. “Hopefully, it will make some of them think.”
Staff writer Ann Schrader can be reached at 303-278-3217 or aschrader@denverpost.com.
