LAKEWOOD, Colo. (KDVR) — Several hours after a deadly hit-and-run crash Thursday night in Lakewood, FOX31 obtained a new video showing the moments before the horrible incident.
This all happened on a stretch of West Colfax Avenue, where the Problem Solvers are hearing just how dangerous it is for both drivers and pedestrians there.
FOX31 is only showing the moments before impact to give you a sense of how dangerous it is near Colfax and Kendall Street for both drivers and pedestrians.
“It’s hundreds a day that you see almost get hit by cars,” Kyle McAllister told FOX31. He’s with You Sell Auto, a business on the corner near where this happened.
He said he wasn’t really surprised once he heard what happened here because of the several close calls.
Video shows close call just minutes after deadly crash
The FOX31 Data Desk dug into the numbers and counted several crashes around that area this year. The Lakewood Police Department confirmed eight crashes at that intersection this year.
“There [are] a lot of people that dart out in front of cars out here,” McAllister said.
That’s a fact confirmed in the same video captured from McAllister’s surveillance system. You see a woman running with a toddler across several lanes of traffic just minutes after the fatal crash, which happened just feet away. They barely get across.
There’s no crosswalk there, but there was once a crosswalk and traffic light at Colfax and Kendall, according to Google Images, before 2015. It is no longer there. A new light has since been installed just down the road.
“I understand that pedestrians have a right of way but…cars can’t see everything you know,” McAllister said, adding: “Sometimes, you just can’t predict [who is] going to come out of these streets and it gets pretty dangerous.”
FOX31 asked city officials late today about why they removed this crosswalk but had not received a response as of this report. We plan to check back in on Monday.
Police arrested 55-year-old Irene Lonnie Martinez Friday morning. She is now being held at the Jefferson County jail on suspicion of leaving the scene of an accident involving death.