A head-on crash in Littleton that killed two people and gravely injured another will have no known cause, as investigators closed the book Monday on the Aug. 2 crash on South Sante Fe Drive.
Inexplicably, single father Richard Hogsett, 36, of Littleton crossed the divided median near West Belleview Avenue and sped his Mercedes-Benz into oncoming coming traffic on that Saturday morning.
He hit a car driven by Kelly Horan, a 26-year-old nurse on her way home from a 12-hour shift at Porter Adventist Hospital, where she has been hospitalized since for head injuries and “breaking nearly every bone in the right side of her body,” her father said Monday.
Hogsett’s black sedan went airborne and landed on a car driven by 27-year-old hairdresser Neva Mondragon. Both died instantly.
“I can only say there are so many things I’m not sure of in this case,” Richard Horan said.
Littleton police share that puzzlement.
“Everything out at the scene would indicate this was intentional,” said Lt. Charles Broadhead said of the crash. “But there’s nothing in this man’s background, nothing in the investigation, nothing in his toxicology report to indicate this was anything more than a horrible accident.”
Hogsett was on his way to a meeting, and minutes before the crash he had called a friend to ask him to pick up a coffee order for him for the meeting, Broadhead said. Hogsett’s fiancee was driving separately to the meeting, Broadhead said.
Efforts to reach Hogsett’s family since the crash have been unsuccessful.
He was the father of four, engaged to be married and had no record of traffic offenses or other crimes.
Witnesses said Hogsett was northbound on Sante Fe, when he crossed over into the southbound lanes, around a divided median at West Prince St. They said Hogsett accelerated quickly for about 200 feet, and no evidence indicated he ever touched his brakes, Broadhead said.
Some witnesses told police Hogsett stiffened just before his car made impact with Horan’s Honda Accord, before landing on the Ford Taurus driven by Mondragon.
Mondragon’s family was not immediately available Monday.
Mondragon was on her way to have her nails done at the salon where she worked in Littleton. After a manicure, she had planned to go out with her fiance, Jose Carlos Maez, to celebrate his birthday. They were leaving on a trip to Las Vegas the next day.
When she didn’t show up, Maez went looking for her. Six miles north of the salon, he came upon the wreckage of the crash. They were to be married in October.
Joey Bunch: 303-954-1174 or jbunch@denverpost.com
