A woman accused in the dragging death of a Colorado Springs tow- truck driver was in a vehicle with one broken mirror and two others that were partially or completely obscured, police testified Friday.
Detra Farries’ GMC was also unusually loud, according to defense attorneys who questioned whether Farries could have known that Allen Lee Rose was being dragged behind her vehicle Feb. 23.
Rose, 35, was ensnared by a cable that snapped as Farries drove away from his tow truck and fled the parking lot of the Hill Park Apartments, 360 N. Murray Blvd., authorities said.
He died after coming loose more than a mile away.
Several new details emerged Friday during a preliminary hearing into whether prosecutors have enough evidence to bring Farries to trial on a felony count of leaving the scene of an accident involving a death.
After nearly four hours of testimony, 4th Judicial District Judge Jann P. DuBois continued the hearing until May 23.
Friday’s hearing offered a preview of the case public defenders Jeremy Loew and Eydie Elkins intend to make should the case proceed to trial.
Among their areas of focus:
• Two people told police they saw Rose place his tow cable on Farries’ SUV after she got in the driver’s seat, and at least one other person said the vehicle was moving when he threw hooks on the back, according to police witnesses.
• Before becoming ensnared, Rose ran after Farries’ vehicle with a knife in his hand, a witness told police.
• A witness told police that Rose “stomped” on the cable at one point.
“Ms. Farries was not the cause of this accident, if an accident occurred,” Loew told the judge in responding to a prosecutor’s objection. “Mr. Rose was the cause of this accident.”
Prosecutor Jeff Lindsey drew testimony about the long, serpentine path Farries took out of the apartments.
