An 18-year-old died in a high-speed crash in Douglas County on Tuesday, where investigators believe the driver was going at least 40 mph over the speed limit, police said.
The man killed, identified by the Douglas County Coroner’s Office as Talon Gustafson, was thrown from the car in the crash near Mainstreet and Motsenbocker Road in Parker, according to a from the police department. That happened shortly after 11 p.m. Tuesday, police said.
Officers responded to the two-car crash within minutes, and South Metro Fire Rescue paramedics took Gustafson to the hospital, where he later died, police said in the release.
The driver, 18-year-old Chase Murphy, was arrested on suspicion of vehicular homicide by reckless driving, reckless driving and speeding 40 mph or more over the posted limit, police said. The speed limit on Mainstreet in that area is 40 mph, so Murphy was driving at least twice the speed limit.
Murphy is accused of hitting another car at the intersection, but no injuries were reported from the second vehicle.
“Mainstreet and Motsenbocker isn’t an area that we hear many concerns from residents,” Parker Police Department spokesperson Josh Hans said in an email to The Denver Post. “We have only had one complaint in 2026 about drivers speeding at that location.”
The police department’s on Thursday showed more than a dozen traffic stops in that area between 2025 and 2026, though specific details about each of the stops were not available.
Parker officers made more than 8,800 traffic stops in 2025 and have made more than 5,500 stops so far this year, Hans said. Residents can highlight areas online, he said.
Speed is believed to have been a factor in the crash, police said.
This is a developing story and may be updated.
