Thornton police tried Friday to unravel a traffic crash in which a 33-year-old woman in an SUV sped through an intersection the night before, sailing her truck airborne onto a pickup and killing a family of five.
“In my 30-year career, I’ve never experienced a traffic accident of this magnitude,” said Thornton police spokesman Matt Barnes.
Dead at the scene was a close-knit family of five riding in their recently purchased Chevrolet S-10 pickup.
Friends, family and neighbors mourned the loss of the Stollsteimer family — identified by the Adams County coroner as Randy, 34, and Crystal, 31, and their three boys — Sebastian, 12, Darrian, 9, and Cyrus, 7.
“Nobody should have to bury one person, let alone five,” said Alejandro Aldaco, Crystal’s uncle, acting as family spokesman in a hastily called news conference outside her father’s home.
“They were great parents. They did everything for those boys,” Aldaco said. “It’s fitting that they were all together. They were always together.”
Police are awaiting toxicology reports to determine whether the driver of the Ford Expedition sport utility vehicle, Monica Chavez, had been drinking or was on drugs when the rush-hour crash occurred at Grant Street and East 84th Avenue just before 6 p.m. Her driver’s license was lying among the rubble Friday inside the mattress store where her 4,900-pound SUV came to rest.
“At this point, nothing is being ruled out,” Barnes said.
Friends of Chavez said they would be astonished if she willingly did anything to jeopardize the safety of her two children, a 6-year-old boy and 10-year-old girl who were in the vehicle as, witnesses said, she drove erratically down Grant Street south of East 88th Avenue. All three were at Denver Health Medical Center on Friday. Their medical conditions were not released.
“They’re good people. They’re not violent,” said Julio Sanchez, a neighbor and friend who has known Chavez and her husband for more than 10 years. “I don’t know why Monica would be driving like that, especially with the kids in the car.”
The crash and aftermath
The SUV hit a 1994 Mazda sedan that was in the left-turn lane of westbound East 84th Avenue. It then smashed into a raised median that launched it into the air.
The Expedition crashed down onto the Stollsteimers’ pickup, which was moving east on 84th.
The Expedition then rolled into the Urban Mattress store at 450 E. 84th Ave. The owner and an employee inside the building escaped major injuries.
“You can only dream of something like this,” said Urban Mattress owner Paul Roggow, whose desk was destroyed by the SUV. “The only thought that came to my mind was: Come quickly, Jesus.”
Phillip Gutierrez, who was in his car on 84th and saw the wreck happen in front of him, said Chavez was unconscious when he reached the Expedition. She regained consciousness but still seemed incoherent.
“It was like someone who had a diabetic problem. . . . Either that or from the wreck, being hit,” said Gutierrez, who helped pull the Chavez children from the Expedition and comforted them. “It was that stargaze — you’re talking to them, but she seems to be in outer space.”
He said Chavez’s husband arrived at the scene quickly after being summoned through a call from his daughter and asked his wife how it happened.
“He was asking her questions, and she just couldn’t respond,” Gutierrez said.
People shaken by the news left cards and flowers Friday at the crash site, extending blessings and prayers for the family.
Aldaco said he saw the news Thursday night about the family that was killed and his heart went out to them. He said he prayed that everything would be all right.
Then his sister called at 5:36 a.m. and told him it was his niece’s family. He had to go to the crash scene.
“It’s a messy sight. It was kind of hard to see. Hard to deal with,” Aldaco said.
He said the family doesn’t know what triggered the accident.
“We’d like to know,” he said. “All we can hope for is justice, of course, and that this doesn’t happen to anyone else. What the community could do to help is slow down. People are running red lights.”
Neighbors remember family
The Stollsteimers were quiet residents in a working-class neighborhood filled with brick ranch homes, not far from the crash scene.
Their tidy house sat empty Friday with two dogs in the fenced-in backyard, hungry and waiting for their owners.
“They were such decent people,” said Eddie Lindhorst, who lived next door to the family. His son began taking care of the dogs after hearing the news.
Lindhorst said he wants to sell his motorcycle and give the proceeds to the Stollsteimers’ relatives to help them pay for the funeral services.
“They were just really hardworking, decent people who were getting by,” he said.
Crystal was a bartender at the Downtown Aquarium and Randy installed air-conditioning systems, he said.
Court records reflect that the family had battled financial problems, including a 2003 bankruptcy partly caused by medical bills, but had always stuck together and impressed neighbors with their dedication to one another and hard work.
“They were probably not far from getting foreclosed on from time to time. But (Randy) hustled. He worked so hard,” Lindhorst said.
Other neighbors knew the family through the three boys, who played video games, rode bikes and frolicked in the park with other neighborhood kids.
The youngest boy, Cyrus, had corrective surgery on his foot.
The eldest boy, Sebastian, kept a protective watch over his younger siblings.
And every morning the three boys would walk together to the bus stop to catch a bus to their school — Monterey Community School.
“They laughed a lot and knew how to have fun,” said Crystal Andrews, whose son played with Sebastian.
“A lot of kids in the neighborhood will have a hard time with this,” Andrews said.
Gary Merklin, who lives across the street, walked with tears streaming down his face to the front of the house. He carried a wooden cross that was given to him 10 years ago. He hung it on the family’s mailbox.
“I want someone who is part of this family to have this,” he said. “They loved their children to death. I loved them because they loved their children.”
Jeremy P. Meyer: 303-954-1367 or jpmeyer@denverpost.com
Staff writers Kieran Nicholson, Jordan Steffen and Felisa Cardona, and research library director Vickie Makings, contributed to this report.
