A high-speed race on Airport Boulevard in Aurora turned deadly Friday afternoon when the two cars filled with teenagers clipped one another and one vehicle rolled five times.
Officers estimated that the cars – a red Plymouth Breeze and a black Pontiac Grand Am – were going almost 80 mph when the wreck occurred.
One girl was killed, two other people were severely injured, and several others suffered minor injuries near East 14th Avenue and Airport Boulevard. The girl has been identified, but her name is being withheld pending notification of next of kin.
The two drivers were identified by police as Mauro Najera, of Denver, who was driving the Plymouth, and Jose Garcia-Felix, also of Denver, who was driving the Grand Am.
The wreck, which occurred about 2:29 p.m., left utter devastation. The Plymouth, which was northbound, lay in the southbound lane on its crushed top, its windows broken and its sides battered. It landed in front of the Aurora Public Schools Division of Support Facilities Complex at 1369 Airport Blvd.
Scattered on the pavement around the Plymouth were dozens of items that had once been in the car. They included two baseball bats, two baseballs, a jean shirt, a gym bag, a tennis shoe, an L.A. Dodgers baseball cap and a pair of broken eyeglasses.
The pavement was smeared with blood. Most of the occupants from both cars are students at Montbello High School in Denver, police said.
Lt. Troy Edwards of the Aurora Police Department said witnesses told investigators that the cars were drag- racing. He said the girl who was killed was partially ejected out of the left rear window and received severe head injuries. Two other occupants of the car were severely injured, and the fourth person received minor injuries.
The Pontiac was carrying five teens, two in the front seat and three in the back, Edwards said. All five were wearing seat belts and two received minor injuries. Luis Garcia, a passenger in the Pontiac, said the red car had tried to overtake it.
“The red car tried to pass, but it hit us in the front and flipped,” Garcia said.
Garcia said he and the passengers in the Pontiac were returning to Montbello after they stopped to have lunch at a McDonald’s in Aurora.
Felipe Garcia, 15, said his brother Jose Garcia-Felix, 18, was driving the Pontiac. No other ages were available.
Felipe Garcia was not in the car. But he said he was told by passengers in his brother’s car that his brother was driving about 40 mph when the Plymouth came alongside, bumped his brother’s car, sped in front of it, lost control and started flipping.
Jose Garcia-Felix was arrested and taken to Aurora City Jail for investigation, Edwards said, but both drivers may face charges of vehicular homicide and vehicular assault.
Garcia-Felix’s Pontiac stopped in the northbound lane, its front-left wheel pressed against the median. About 15 yards away and to the left in the southbound lane was the Plymouth.
Felipe Sotelo, father of Luis Garcia, 15, passenger in the Pontiac, said he had no doubt what had happened.
“They were racing,” Sotelo said. “They are 15 and 16 years old and they think they know everything in the world. I hope everyone learns from this.”
Edwards said the drivers of the two cars knew each other. Although it had rained off and on during the day, Edwards said the pavement was dry when the accident occurred.
Felipe Garcia, brother of Jose Garcia-Felix, the Pontiac driver, said his brother was not going to school but rather worked at a Burger King restaurant.
He said Jose’s girlfriend, Jessica Macotela, was riding in the front passenger seat. He said his brother was not injured but that Macotela passed out after the crash.
Jose Garcia-Felix’s car appeared to have minor damage, mostly to its front.
Aurora Fire Department had four firefighters on duty when the wreck occurred about 35 yards north of their station. The firefighters were the first to arrive.
“I heard a noise, but I thought it was something that was dropped off the dock next door. I heard no braking, no tires squealing,” said Lt. Roy Seaton.
Edwards said that Aurora has not had a problem with drag racing in two years following a concerted crackdown on racers who used to meet and race in the area near the wreck.
Luis Garcia, the Pontiac passenger, telephoned his mother, Luz Ochoa, twice.
“Mom, can you pick me up? I’m OK,” Luz said her son told her.
“It’s really scary,” Luz Ochoa said. “He’s lucky to be alive. When I saw the car, I said, ‘Oh, my God.”‘
“Kids should think they are not invincible,” said Jolene Poole, who stood near the wreck. “Now they have to live with the death of one of their own.”
Poole, who lives seven blocks away, said drag racing isn’t uncommon on the busy boulevard.
“You see people dragging a lot down here,” Poole said.
Staff writer Howard Pankratz can be reached at 303-820-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com.
