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A woman suspected of drinking and driving and causing a fatal wreck on Interstate 70 in which she was also killed early this morning, had a previous drunken driving conviction, according to court records.

Heydi Margarita Hau Chi, 26, of Denver, was found guilty of DWAI in July 2008, according to Denver Court records.

Hau Chi was identified today as the driver of a Nissan Sentra who went the wrong way on I-70 early this morning, causing a head-on collision with a Volvo, before her car was plowed into by a semi truck.

Woon D. Baek, 65, of Aurora, the driver of the Volvo, was also killed in the accident.

According to court records, Thursday was Hau Chi’s birthday.

On June 11, 2008, two years to the day of this morning’s fatal crash, Hau Chi was arrested for DUI, among other violations. The DUI charge was dismissed and she was found guilty of DWAI. As part of her sentence in that case, Hau Chi was ordered to take an alcohol education class.

Although toxicology reports have not been released, Wheat Ridge police believe Hau Chi had been drinking prior to the today’s crash, said Lt. Wade Hammond.

Investigators based their suspicion on numerous 911 calls early this morning and a hit-and-run crash Hau Chi allegedly fled prior to the fatal crash.

At about 2:46 a.m., a hit-and-run involving a parked car was reported on the 4600 block of Everett Street in Wheat Ridge, Hammond said. The suspect car left a license plate at the scene and police matched it to a black Nissan Sentra.

Over the next 45 minutes, police fielded several phone calls about a black Nissan driving erratically in the area and officers searched for the car.

At 3:25 a.m. dispatch received a call about a car driving eastbound in the westbound lanes of I-70. A minute later, the Nissan got into a head-on collision with a Volvo on the highway, just west of Kipling Street.

The driver of the Volvo, Baek, got out of his car and was hit by a semi as it came over the crest of a hill, Hammond said. The semi then plowed into the Nissan Sentra, dragging it about 100 yards, Hammond said.

At some point Hau Chi was thrown from her car.

Investigators believe Hau Chi got on the highway heading in the wrong direction, at the Ward Road interchange.

Three passengers in the Volvo — Baek’s wife, and a couple who were friends of the Baeks — were taken to a local hospital, Hammond said.

Baek’s wife suffered serious injuries. Details on the couple’s injuries were not available, but Hammond said they are not life-threatening. Their names were not released.

The driver of the semi — a man from Fort Worth — was not injured.

The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and the Colorado State Patrol assisted Wheat Ridge police at the scene.

At the accident scene, a car crashed into a CSP car. The trooper was not in the car and the driver who hit the patrol car was not injured.

The crashes shut down the westbound lanes of the highway for six hours this morning.

Kieran Nicholson: 303-954-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com.