The Denver District Attorney’s Office has charged a woman with that sent her vehicle careening into Civic Center Park, and seriously injured her passenger.
Yessica Nevarez-Villa, 21, allegedly was speeding eastbound on Colfax Avenue at about 2:30 a.m. Friday and failed to navigate a curve near Bannock Street. The car jumped the curb, rolled into the park and burst into flames.
An unidentified passenger suffered third-degree burns and a severe fracture of his skull.
“Police officers arriving on the scene heard a man screaming inside the burning vehicle,” according to the District Attorney’s Office.
Denver firefighters extricated the man. Witnesses removed Nevarez-Villa from the vehicle and dragged her to safety.
The single-vehicle crash knocked down an unnamed outdoor sculpture that was created by Robert Mangold, who gave it to the city in 1975.
Nevarez-Villa is scheduled to appear at 8 a.m. Nov. 14 in county courtroom 2300.
