A 21-year-old man was charged today with two counts of vehicular homicide after he allegedly ran a stop sign while driving drunk and smashed into a Denver Yellow cab, killing taxi driver Solomon Abraham.
The charges filed by Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey allege that about 1:30 a.m. on Saturday, the suspect, Darian Blackwell was driving northbound on Williams Street under the influence of alcohol when he went through the stop sign at East 18th Avenue at a high rate of speed.
The charges allege that he crashed into the Ford Crown Victoria being driven by Abraham, 32.
According to police investigators, Blackwell was speeding in his 1996 Dodge Stratus in a posted 25 mph zone.
Abraham was westbound on East 18th Avenue approaching Williams Street at an estimated speed of 30 mph, the posted limit.
The impact sent Abraham’s cab spinning out of control over a sidewalk and into a yard while Blackwell’s car smashed into a tree.
Blackwell remains in custody in the Denver County Jail. His bail is set at $75,000. He is scheduled to appear in Denver County Court at 9 a.m. Thursday.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
