Two people are dead after a minivan crowded with children and adults ran a stop sign and collided with a pickup in Thornton last night.
Police found a 42-year-old Commerce City man and a woman dead among the five adults and four children in the red 1998 Dodge Caravan after the crash at 160th Avenue and Holly Street, Thornton police officer Gary Birghtenburg said today.
The children and two adults were seriously injured and taken by helicopter to various trauma centers.
None of those involved in the accident has been identified pending notification of their families.
The van’s driver wasn’t hurt. He was arrested and has been released pending further investigation and a toxicology report.
Seven of the nine occupants of the van were believed to be related, and the others were friends of the family.
The van was heading south on Holly when it drove through the stop sign into the path of a black 2003 Chevrolet pickup.
“The van was on its side in a field on the southeast side of the intersection,” Birghtenburg said.
The pickup, which was occupied by a 42 year-old Fort Lupton man and his 4-year-old daughter, hit the van broadside hard enough to push it off the road. The driver was taken to the hospital with minor injuries.
His daughter wasn’t injured.
The van’s occupants weren’t wearing seat belts at the time of the wreck, but an 18-month-old child was restrained in car seat.
Tom McGhee: 303-954-1671 or tmcghee@denverpost.com
