The snowplow driver who lost control last week on Interstate 70 and swerved into oncoming traffic has been placed on administrative leave amid the fatal crash investigation, state officials said.
State patrol officials hope to complete the crash investigation within four weeks, but “many factors play into that timeframe,” Colorado State Patrol spokesperson Ivan Alvarado said Monday.
The driver of a van carrying a youth hockey team headed to Denver for the Western Girls Hockey League weekend died in the Thursday morning crash on I-70 near Herman Gulch, and eight people in the van were injured, according to state patrol officials.
The Clear Creek County Coroner’s Office identified the driver killed in the crash as 38-year-old Manuel Alejandro Lorenzana Villegas from Chatsworth, California. His cause of death remained under investigation on Monday, Chief Deputy Coroner Nichol Nelson said.
Lorenzana Villegas was the father of one of the players on the youth hockey team, the Santa Clarita Lady Flyers, according to reporting from Denver7.
A snowplow on westbound I-70 lost control in the snow shortly before 9 a.m. Thursday, crashing through the median and hitting a Toyota Tacoma in the eastbound lanes, state patrol officials said. The impact sent the Tacoma back across the median, where it hit a westbound BMW.
State investigators said the snow plow then hit the Ford Transit van carrying the girls’ hockey team from California, sending the van down an embankment. The agency previously identified the vehicle as a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van.
Three adults and four juveniles in the van were taken to Denver Health by ambulance, hospital officials said in a statement.
A fifth juvenile passenger was airlifted to a separate trauma center with critical injuries, according to the state patrol. No other injuries were reported.
As of Monday morning, what caused the plow driver to lose control and whether he will face any charges in the crash remained under investigation, Alvarado said.
The plow driver was placed on administrative leave following the crash, which is the Colorado Department of Transportation’s policy, Communications Director Matt Inzeo said.
“The Colorado State Patrol continues to investigate this incident, and the findings from that investigation will inform next steps,” Inzeo said.
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