Teenage driver of SUV that crushed passengers during stunt is hit with assault charge
The teenage driver of a vehicle that flipped over and crushed her five young passengers hanging out the windows while she performed stunts in Colorado has been hit with updated charges of vehicular assault.
Marisol Wentling, 19, was at the wheel of an SUV that was captured in graphic video rolling over while doing donuts in Colorado Springs just after 10 p.m. Saturday, cops said.
Her five thrill-seeking passengers, who were sitting on top of the door panels during the dangerous maneuvers, suffered life-threatening injuries when the SUV landed on top of them.
All five were juveniles, police said. Two have since been released from the hospital while three others remain in critical but stable condition, cops tweeted.
Wentling was initially charged with reckless driving. She has been hit with an additional count of vehicular assault, according to Colorado Springs police.
The young woman, who wasn’t seriously hurt, is seen with some cuts on her nose in her mug shot.
Harrowing footage shows bystanders rushing to render aid in the parking lot of the Market at Spring Creek, but the person filming the shocking incident warns them not to flip the vehicle back over.
“No, there’s someone on the other side! There’s someone on the other side, don’t flip it, don’t flip it!” he says.
Francis Barclay, who works for Jolly Christmas Trees in the lot where the crash took place, said he has seen groups doing donuts in the past.
“It seems to me, since I’ve been doing this for five years, it’s getting more and more frequent,” Barclay told KRDO. “It’s been like every third or fourth night out here, there’s somebody out here squealing tires. I see a lot of activity.”
Barclay said he was sad for the victims, but isn’t entirely surprised after the reckless driving he has witnessed.
“I feel for those kids. I hope they survive, and if they survive, I hope they never do that again,” he told the outlet.
