DOUGLAS COUNTY, Colo. — A 36-year-old man pleaded guilty on Tuesday to a hit-and-run crash that killed a Parker bicyclist on July 4, 2019.
Edward Charles “Chuck” Vogel, 64, of Parker, had been riding his bicycle southbound on Pine Drive in Douglas County around 6:30 a.m. that day. It was a route he frequently biked on. But that morning, he was hit from behind by a Kia Spectra. Preston James Dorris, 36, was at the wheel. Dorris drove away from the crash. Vogel died the following day in the hospital.
The Kia was found abandoned in an apartment complex's parking lot about a mile south of the crash site on July 5. It had significant damage to its windshield. Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock said investigators traced the car to Dorris, though he was not the registered owner of the vehicle and it was not stolen. Dorris was arrested near Alliance, Nebraska on July 12. Spurlock said Dorris left Colorado shortly after the crash.
On Tuesday, Dorris pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of a crash involving a death, vehicular homicide and careless driving.
He is scheduled to be sentenced on April 17 at 9 a.m. in Douglas County. The presumptive sentencing range is four to 18 years in prison.
Family said in 2019 that Vogel would have become a grandfather that year.
In a statement, his family said he was a "loving husband, father, community servant and soon-to-be grandfather. Chuck’s impact in the community has changed many lives and left everyone he touched better. We are heartbroken by this tragic and sudden loss of such a wonderful man."