The man who crashed through the scene of an accident last summer and killed a tow truck operator working to clear the road pleaded guilty today in court, the 1st Judicial District Attorney’s Office announced.
Zachariah Dobler, 28, faces between 24 and 48 years in prison when he’s sentenced April 11.
In the early morning hours on July 31, his victim, 41-year-old Alan Dilley, was working to tow a vehicle at W. 58th Avenue and Wadsworth in Arvada.
Dobler drove through the cones set up around Dilley, striking the tow truck operator and throwing him 120 feet. Dilley later died of his injuries.
Dobler, who has a lengthy record of drunken driving incidents, did not stop.
He pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide involving DUI and leaving the scene of an accident involving death. Both are Class 3 felonies.
Court records show Dobler was convicted of driving while ability impaired in 2007, 2004 and 2002, including one incident where authorities dismissed charges that he fled the scene of a non-injury accident.
Dobler’s rap sheet shows multiple arrests for under-age drinking and driving on a suspended license. He has also been jailed for domestic violence, burglary and violating a protection order.
Colorado has no felony law for people who rack up a series of drunken-driving convictions. A 2010 DUI law, however, does require repeat offenders to be on probation for two years and enter alcohol-education and treatment programs.
Jessica Fender: 303-954-1244 or jfender@denverpost.com
