Littleton – A senior at Heritage High School died Thursday after he fell off a skateboard being pulled by a car on his last day of classes.
Hours later, dozens of fellow students gathered on the street where 18-year-old John Nicolette fell and took “tribute” rides on their skateboards past the spot where the accident happened.
“He was a great kid, very positive,” said schoolmate Ian Gastl, also 18 and a senior. “He was a great kid to look up to and a great person to be around.”
Police said Nicolette, of Littleton, was skating down a hill on South Windermere Street at West Meadowbrook Road on a “longboard” – like a skateboard, but longer, wider and faster – at about 9 a.m. Thursday.
Nicolette was riding while clinging to the side of a Jeep heading toward the nearby high school when he fell off the board and “suffered severe head trauma,” police said.
Nicolette was rushed to Littleton Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Police did not confirm a witness account that Nicolette was struck by the Jeep.
Nicolette was the son of Englewood dentist John L. Nicolette and his wife, Linda. At the the family’s Littleton home Thursday night, a neighbor said the parents were in “deep shock” and weren’t ready to talk about the tragedy.
Police identified the student driving the Jeep as Colin McEuen, 18, also a senior at Heritage.
McEuen was interviewed by police. No charges were pending Thursday against him and the investigation is continuing, police said. McEuen’s family could not be reached.
Drugs and alcohol are not suspected of contributing to the accident, police said.
Classmates said that the hilly stretch of Windermere is popular with boarders and students who sometimes “skitch” a ride – holding on to cars – to get back up the hill after their run.
Some of the students at the scene Thursday afternoon wore helmets for their tribute ride, but most did not. Longboards can go as fast as 40 mph, students said.
Schoolmates said Nicolette was a talented musician who played trumpet in the school’s jazz band. He was planning to attend the University of Colorado in the fall, several students said.
Thursday was the last day of classes for seniors. Heritage breaks for summer vacation for the rest of the student body on Tuesday.
“No one is going to remember this as our last day,” Gastl said. “They are going to remember it as the day Johnnie died.”
People left flowers at the accident site throughout the afternoon.
One man, who said he did not know Nicolette but whose children graduated from Heritage several years ago, stopped by.
“It’s just so sad,” said Rusty Nail, 50, who lives nearby and drives past the spot often.
“Kids are skating together here all the time, just having a good time,” Nail said. “They don’t think about what might happen.”
Nicolette’s entry in the Heritage yearbook includes a quote from Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi: “Live as you were to die tomorrow. Learn as you were to live forever.”
“It’s really shocking,” said junior Hayden Wallace, 17. “Just live life like his (yearbook) quote said.”
Staff writer Kieran Nicholson can be reached at 303-954-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com.
