DOUGLAS COUNTY, Colo. — The driver who allegedly swerved into oncoming traffic before a crash that killed him and four others on Highway 83 near Franktown Monday was driving a car that had been stolen from Aurora less than an hour earlier, police confirmed to Denver7.
The carjacking suspect along with four people in a separate car – including three children – died in the crash.
Colorado State Patrol said that suspect, a 31-year-old man, was driving a Toyota Matrix hatchback when he lost control and veered into the right shoulder before over-correcting and driving into the oncoming lanes of Highway 83 near Russellville Road and hit a Ford sedan.
He was ejected from the car and died at the scene. He was not believed to have been wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash, CSP said.
Four family members in the Ford sedan also died in the crash. A family member talked to Denver7 and gave permission to provide the names and ages of their lost loved ones.
The victims are identified as 35-year-old father Alvin Corado, Toretto Corado, 8, Makenlee Corado, 12, and Jase Green, 12.
Two other teenagers were injured in the crash and were airlifted to a hospital.
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5 people killed, including 3 juveniles, in Douglas County crash Monday afternoon
The crash was reported at 4:39 p.m., CSP said Monday.
On Tuesday, Aurora police told Denver7 that the Toyota Matrix had been reported stolen from the Nine Mile Station parking structure, about 20 miles from the scene of the crash, at roughly 3:45 p.m.
The victim in the carjacking told police she was getting into her car on the first level of the parking garage when a man approached her and asked for a ride. When she refused, the suspect pulled her from the driver's seat of the car and drove away, police said.
The relative of the family members killed in the crash sent a statement to Denver7:
"Our family is struggling not only with unimaginable grief but also with the overwhelming financial and medical burdens that have followed," the statement read in part. "We are doing everything we can to support the surviving children and to honor the memory of the loved ones we lost."
The Douglas County Coroner's Office will release the identities of those killed after their families have been notified.
The CSP Vehicular Crimes Unit is investigating what happened. Originally, a Ford pickup truck behind the sedan was thought to have been involved, but it was later learned the driver of the pickup stopped just before the crash. There was no damage to the pickup and the driver was not injured.
Anyone who observed the crash, but has not yet talked with investigators, is asked to call CSP Dispatch at 303-239-4501.
