The driver of a tractor-trailer involved in a fatal six-vehicle collision on U.S. 285 last week told police he lost his brakes before the crash, according to an arrest affidavit.
Ignacio Cruz Mendoza, 47, is a Mexican citizen who is in the United States illegally and who was removed from or voluntarily left the country 16 times since 2002, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said Monday.
Mendoza was arrested for vehicular homicide and vehicular assault June 11 after police say he lost control of his tractor-trailer while driving southbound on U.S. 285 near Aspen Park around 5 p.m.
The trailer rolled during the crash, spilling steel pipes and closing the highway overnight.
The crash killed 64-year-old Scott Miller and seriously injured another driver, according to Mendoza’s arrest affidavit.
Mendoza told Colorado State Patrol troopers he left Cheyenne, Wyoming, around 10 a.m. Tuesday and was unsure of his destination, stating it was on paperwork in his vehicle. He had been in the United States for 20 years and had driven commercial vehicles for 7 years, according to his affidavit.
Troopers noted skip skid marks on the road before the crash site, indicating the tractor-trailer’s brakes were “partially functional.”
Mendoza later told troopers he lost his brakes before the crash and was unsure when the vehicle was last inspected. A tag on tractor-trailer showed the last inspection was in 2020, CSP troopers wrote in the affidavit.
Investigators found the trucking company had four previous violations related to electronic logging devices, which record driver hours, and three violations for drivers not having commercial licenses.
Immigration officials first became aware of Mendoza in 2002 when he was arrested in Oregon and an immigration judge ordered him removed to Mexico on May 29, 2002, according to a statement from ICE’s Denver field office.
He is in custody at the Jefferson County Jail on a $50,000 bail and is set to appear in court Tuesday.
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Originally Published: June 17, 2024 at 4:21 p.m.
