DENVER — Authorities on Monday released the identity of the driver of a van carrying a youth hockey team who was killed in a crash with a Colorado Department of Transportation snowplow on Interstate 70 last week.
The Clear Creek County Coroners' Office identified the victim as 38-year-old Manuel Alejandro Lorenzana Villegas from Chatsworth, California.
"We know that one family lost a husband and a father, the man that was driving the bus at the time and tragically lost his life," said Jesse Sanders, chairman of Dawg Nation Hockey Foundation.
According to KHTS-AM, Lorenzana Villegas was the father of a player on the SC Lady Flyers, a 12-and-under girls’ hockey team based in Santa Clarita, California.
The Thursday morning crash on westbound I-70 near the Eisenhower Tunnel involved multiple other vehicles and injured eight others, all of whom were inside the team’s van.
Five of the injured are children; most have since been discharged, while two adults remain in serious condition as of last week.
According to the Colorado State Patrol, the CDOT snowplow driver — 29-year-old Colton Weidman, of Littleton — was headed westbound on I-70 when he lost control, traveled through the median, and collided with eastbound traffic, including a Ford Transit van carrying the SC Lady Flyers, sending it down an embankment.
Before the crash, weather conditions near the tunnel had begun to deteriorate, prompting lane closures and prompting CDOT to close the tunnel temporarily.
The SC Flyers had traveled from Santa Clarita for a tournament and had launched a fundraising effort.
"The Flyers are devastated to hear the news," the team president said in a statement to Denver7. "We are doing everything in our power to assist the team and its families in any way we can. We greatly appreciate the outpouring of support we have received from the community and will continue to pray for the girls and their families."
No citations or arrests have been reported. The CSP is leading the crash investigation.
The crash sparked an outpouring of support from Colorado hockey families who say the tragedy hit close to home.
"I don't know how long some of those families will have to be here to receive care, and it'll be a journey, and we want to make sure that we're there to help them," said Chris Tippett, a local hockey mom.
If you'd like to donate to help the girls and their families, click HERE.
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