A 61-year-old woman was killed this morning after she was hit by a van at the intersection of South Havana Street and East Mexico Avenue in Aurora.
Sgt. Bill Revelle said the woman, dressed in dark clothing, was crossing Havana west to east and outside a crosswalk about 6:20 a.m. when she was hit by a 1983 Chevrolet van.
Revelle said multiple witnesses told police the driver had the green light and was not at fault.
Lt. Chuck DeShazer, spokesman for the Aurora Police Department, identified the dead woman as Carmen Vasquez-Rios, and said she was crossing outside the painted crosswalk at East Mexico Avenue.
DeShazer said the van driver, a 39-year-old Aurora woman, was traveling northbound and was going through the intersection with a green light. The van hit Vasquez-Rios 12 to 15 feet north of the crosswalk.
DeShazer said a second automobile-pedestrian accident occurred about 10 minutes later at the intersection of Colfax Avenue and Aurora Court.
DeShazer said that a 61-year-old man, dressed in dark clothing, was hit as he crossed Colfax. The car which hit the pedestrian had a green light and the right of way, said DeShazer.
He said the man had head injuries, a broken pelvis and broken arm.
The man had been on an RTD bus. He got off the bus, and when the bus pulled away, he started crossing Colfax with a group of people. The driver of the car, who had a green light, could not see the man because of another car in an adjacent lane, said the police spokesman.
DeShazer said the man was hit 40 feet west of the crosswalk.
In both accidents, the motorists stopped.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com.
