Hours after Colorado Springs police cited the head of the local Republican Party for accidentally hitting and killing a friend with his car last month, prosecutors announced they were dismissing the charges.
Trevor Dierdorff, 45, was driving in reverse on Tejon Street downtown toward a parking spot when he hit longtime Platte Floral owner Mel Tolbert, police said. Tolbert, 79, was critically injured in the March 28 crash and died April 2.
Police issued a statement about 1 p.m. that Dierdorff was being cited with careless driving causing death, a misdemeanor, and failing to exercise due care, a Class A traffic infraction. Three hours later, the 4th Judicial District Attorney’s Office said the charges would be dropped.
“For us, it was applying the law to the facts, and we cannot prosecute this case. We told the Police Department that,” DA Dan May told the Gazette. “We had told them previously that we are not able to prosecute charges in this case because the law is clear on who has the right of way.”
A spokesman for the Police Department declined to comment Wednesday on the dismissal.
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