Viet Quoc Nguyen was no stranger to drunken driving. Nguyen had a previous drunken-driving arrest.
Early Saturday, police say, Nguyen was driving with a revoked license when he drove his Porsche Cayenne through a red light in Westminster and killed a 21-year-old woman.
“The family lost a daughter because of the choices he made,” said Cheri Spottke, Westminster police spokeswoman.
The driver’s side of Jenna Breen’s car was caved in, and crash debris littered the street at West 118th Avenue and Sheridan Boulevard.
Breen, who was ejected, was pronounced dead at the scene of the 3:30 a.m. accident, Spottke said.
Nguyen, 25, of Federal Heights, is being held for investigation of vehicular homicide, drunken driving, failure to remain at the scene of an accident, driving with license restraint, failure to give aid and disobeying a red light.
Nguyen’s license was revoked for a prior drunken-driving case, Spottke said.
“It’s devastating to the family, to the community and to the officers who had to respond to the scene,” Spottke said. “It’s a preventable accident.”
Nguyen is being held in the Adams County jail.
The crash occurred when Nguyen’s vehicle allegedly ran a red light and slammed into the car driven by the Westminster woman.
“The (woman’s) vehicle is now half of what it used to be,” Spottke said. “The driver’s side of the car is completely concave. It’s horrible.”
Two men leaped out of the Porsche and took off running.
Police used a K-9 dog to track Nguyen, who was found a short distance away.
A second man was found at West 120th Avenue by Broomfield police officers. That man was released.
The investigation is ongoing.
Besides the drunken-driving arrests, Nguyen has several prior convictions for underage drinking, receiving stolen property, driving while license was suspended, drug dealing, theft, disorderly conduct and drug possession.
Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206, or
This article has been corrected in this online archive. Originally, due to a reporting error, the number of drunken-driving arrests by Viet Nguyen was misstated. He had only one prior drunken-driving arrest.
