There is no sign that the 18-year-old man accused of vehicular homicide in a drunken Northglenn crash tried to brake before hitting a house, police said.
Northglenn police officers first noticed a driver “having difficulty maintaining their lane” headed southbound on Washington Street at about 11:50 p.m. on May 28, according to an arrest affidavit. The vehicle repeatedly swerved between lanes, and officers “became concerned the driver could collide with another vehicle if not stopped.”
The driver, later identified as Angelo Arias, stopped for officers in the 10500 block of Clarkson Street, but sped off as the officer approached his car, according to the affidavit.
“I heard the engine rev and the tires squealed as it drove quickly away from me,” an officer wrote in the arrest affidavit. That officer estimated Arias reached roughly 60 mph as he drove away in the 25 mph zone.
While walking back to his patrol vehicle, the officer heard tires screeching and a loud bang, according to the affidavit.
Arias had left the road where it turned and had driven straight into a house in the 10400 block of Clarkson Street, police said in the affidavit. Investigators found “no sign of braking” at the crash site.
The vehicle was sideways in the driveway and pinned to the brick wall of the home, where it had collided with a gas meter, according to the affidavit. The front of the car was heavily damaged, and the airbags had deployed.
Arias was found on the ground, roughly 5 feet from the driver’s side door, by the officer from the traffic stop, the affidavit stated. The officer noticed “a strong odor of an unknown alcoholic beverage coming from his breath,” and Arias later admitted to taking several shots of liquor and smoking marijuana before the crash, according to the affidavit. He told police that he had been driving for roughly one hour before he was pulled over.
After a witness reported hearing a girl scream before the crash, Arias told police that his girlfriend may have been in the car, but he “could not remember,” the affidavit stated.
The girl — identified in the affidavit as 18-year-old Paige Mahone — was found breathing but unconscious on the passenger floor, below the glovebox, according to the affidavit. Paramedics took Mahone to the hospital, where she later died.
A search of Arias’ car revealed several items of “marijuana paraphernalia” and an empty shooter bottle, police said in the affidavit.
Arias faces two vehicular homicide charges in the May 28 crash — one for DUI and one for reckless driving, according to Adams County court records. He will next appear in court on June 23 for a preliminary hearing.
Anyone with information about the crash is asked to contact Northglenn investigators at 303-450-8857 or dbrummel@northglenn.org.
