HESPERUS, Colo.-
A New Mexico man has been charged with three counts of careless driving causing death after his pickup truck slammed into a parked car along a southwestern Colorado highway, killing three teenagers.
Eugene J. Chavez, 25, of Grants also faces three counts of bodily injury and failure to comply with Department of Public Safety rules and regulations. He has been released on bond from the La Plata County jail.
The Colorado State Patrol said Chavez’s pickup was southbound on U.S. 140 about 20 miles north of the New Mexico border just before midnight Saturday when it left the road and struck a vehicle parked in a driveway. The three teens were killed and an 11-year-old was injured when they were thrown from that vehicle, the patrol said.
Officers said alcohol or drugs didn’t play a role in the crash, but fatigue could have been a factor.
A La Plata County sheriff’s deputy who had stopped to investigate why two vehicles were parked beside the road was talking to two men when the collision occurred. One of the men was struck and injured, but the deputy and the other man were not hit.
The patrol identified dead as Larry Michael Romero, 18, of Durango; Raymond Bill Millich Jr., 13, of Bayfield; and Carly A. Martin, 16, also of Bayfield.
The injured 11-year-old, Samuel A. Romero, was taken to The Children’s Hospital in Denver with serious injuries, authorities said.
Matthew C. Goodson, 33, of Hesperus, who was struck, was taken to Denver Health Medical Center with unspecified injuries.
Chavez and his passenger, 29-year-old William A. Mckibben of Albuquerque, were treated at a Durango hospital and released.
