Denver man dies in two-car crash on W. 6th Ave.

A Denver man died and two unidentified people were injured on 6th Ave. early Saturday

LAKEWOOD – A Denver driver is dead and two people in the pickup he slammed into early Saturday are hospitalized with injuries they received in a two-vehicle crash on West 6th Avenue at Estes Street, just east of Garrison Street.

Witnesses and police said the two injured occupants of a Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck apparently were having trouble with their vehicle and were coasting toward the center median about 7:25 a.m. when 63-year-old Irvin Rodriquez of Denver slammed into the rear of the pickup, sending both westbound vehicles careening across the highway.

“They were right behind me, I saw it in my rearview mirror,” said a witness at the scene who did not give her name. “It was horrible.”

The witness said she passed the pickup as it slowed and apparently headed for the center median

Lane.

“I don’t think he (Rodriquez) even saw they were stopping” before he slammed into the rear of the pickup, she said.

Lakewood Police Department spokesman Ty Countryman confirmed that part of the account.

“Rodriquez failed to react to the disabled vehicle and collided with it,” Countryman said.

The accident investigation closed westbound lanes of W. 6th Avenue for about three hours.

Paramedics pronounced Rodriquez dead at the scene and both occupants of the other vehicle were taken to a local hospital for treatment of what Countryman described as “non life-threatening injuries.”

Countryman said investigators do not believe alcohol or excessive speed were factors in the accident and no charges are pending.