A deadly interstate crash involving a state-operated snowplow has left one father dead and several children injured after a van carrying a youth hockey team was struck and pushed down an embankment, according to Colorado authorities.
CLEAR CREEK COUNTY, CO – A Colorado Department of Transportation snowplow crossed a highway median and collided with multiple vehicles, including a van transporting a California girls hockey team, killing 38-year-old Manuel Alejandro Lorenzana Villegas and injuring several passengers. The crash happened just before 9 a.m. on Interstate 70 and has led to multiple criminal charges against the plow driver.
Colton Wiedman, 29, faces one count of careless driving resulting in death, four counts of careless driving causing serious bodily injury, three counts of careless driving causing bodily injury, and failure to stay in his lane. Colorado State Patrol officials confirmed the charges Thursday, more than two months after the fatal collision.
Crash sequence and investigation details
“The crash involved a CDOT plow and a sprinter van carrying a youth hockey team from California and two additional passenger vehicles,” Colorado State Patrol said in a statement.
According to preliminary findings released by the Clear Creek County Sheriff’s Office, Wiedman was driving westbound when he allegedly “lost control” of the plow on slushy road conditions and struck the median. “The plow truck traveled through the median, breaking through the cable rail and into the eastbound lanes,” the sheriff’s office said. “The plow collided with a Toyota Tacoma that was traveling eastbound in the eastbound lanes. After impact, the Toyota went through the median and struck a BMW traveling westbound in the westbound lanes.”
The plow continued moving eastbound before striking the sprinter van carrying the youth hockey team. “After the impact, the sprinter van ended up down an embankment,” the office said. “The CDOT plow came to rest on the shoulder.”
One child was airlifted in critical condition, while four children and three adults were hospitalized with less severe injuries.
Family, team respond to loss
The team, identified as part of the 12AA Lady Flyers hockey program, said the trip to Colorado had been planned as a tournament experience before turning into a tragedy.
“Our 12AA Lady Flyers hockey family was involved in a tragic accident,” the team said in a statement. “While traveling to Colorado for what was meant to be a joyful and exciting tournament, their lives were changed forever. Now, their moment of anticipation has become a frightening ordeal.”
The statement continued, “Words cannot express the heartbreak we are experiencing. Please hold these families in your prayers.”
Villegas, who was driving the van at the time of the crash, was a tattoo artist and owner of Rare Hearts Tattoo Club in Woodland Hills, California. A fundraiser launched after his death described him as “a hero and the epitome of what an amazing man, father, partner and friend should be.”
Wiedman is scheduled to be arraigned May 5 in Clear Creek County, according to court records.
Colorado snowplow crash, Interstate 70 accident, Manuel Lorenzana Villegas, youth hockey team crash, careless driving charges
