A Colorado Department of Transportation snow plow driver is facing eight misdemeanor charges in a deadly crash with a youth hockey team on Interstate 70 in January, state patrol officials said.
Colton A. Wiedman, 29, is charged with careless driving causing death, four counts of careless driving causing serious bodily injury and three counts of careless driving causing injury, the Colorado State Patrol said Thursday.
Wiedman is also charged with a traffic offense in the crash.
Investigators said Wiedman was driving a CDOT snow plow on westbound I-70 near Herman Gulch on the morning of Jan. 29 when he lost control, crashed through the median and into oncoming eastbound traffic.
The plow hit several vehicles, including a van carrying a girl’s hockey team from the in California, who were traveling to Denver for the Western Girls Hockey League weekend.
The van driver and father of one of the players, 38-year-old Manuel Alejandro Lorenzana Villegas, was killed in the crash. Three adults and five children were taken to the hospital after the crash, several with serious injuries.
The team went on to days later.
Wiedman is on administrative leave, CDOT officials said Thursday. He is set to appear in court for an arraignment hearing on May 5.
