BRIGHTON, Colo. — A man who pleaded guilty to hitting and killing two people in 2021 will spend 40 years in prison for their deaths.
Nicholas Villarini was sentenced in Adams County District Court Thursday after he pleaded guilty in December to:
- two counts of vehicular homicide - DUI
- one count of vehicular assault - DUI
Villarini had originally been charged with numerous offenses, the most serious of which were murder charges.
On Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2021, Brighton Police were called about a suspicious vehicle in the area of Gaviota Avenue and Goldfinch Street. The first responding officer discovered the Kia SUV was reported stolen out of Westminster, police said.
As a second officer arrived, the suspect vehicle rammed their unmarked car and sped away, police said.
The first officer initiated a pursuit of the SUV, which then ran a stop sign and smashed into a Nissan truck at the intersection of Mt. Bierstadt and Bridge streets, police said.
Dulce Castro Perez, 21, from Hudson, was thrown from the truck that was hit by the suspect vehicle, police said. She was rushed to a hospital with critical injuries and later died.
The suspect, Villarini, kept driving on Mt. Bierstadt Street, lost control of his vehicle and hit 25-year-old Gustavo Mosqueda Ortega who was on the sidewalk. Ortega, too, was rushed to a hospital with serious injuries and died.
Villarini spent a few days in the hospital for injuries he sustained during the pursuit and crashes, which police said lasted about two minutes.
The Brighton Police officer involved in the pursuit was let go by the department in January 2022.
Villarini was sentenced to 40 years on the homicide charges and six years on the assault charge.
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