Passenger killed in Colorado Springs suspected DUI crash identified
The El Paso County Coroner’s Office identified a man killed in a car crash in eastern Colorado Springs, police announced Monday.
The passenger of a Pontiac Aztec, 41-year-old Jeremiah R. Stephens, died Saturday, the day after a car crash at the intersection of Powers Boulevard and Aeroplaza Drive, police said.
Stephens was riding in the front seat of the vehicle when the driver, 63-year-old Thomas Hearn, tried to make an unprotected left turn from southbound Powers Boulevard onto eastbound Aeroplaza Drive and was hit by a Toyota Celica headed north on Powers Boulevard, police said.
Emergency responders freed the driver of the Celica from the crunched car and transported the driver, as well as two other occupants, to a local hospital, officers said.
Hearn, the driver of the Aztec, was under the influence of alcohol during the crash, officers said. After medics treated him for injures, police booked Hearn into the El Paso County jail on suspicion of vehicular homicide, vehicular assault, driving under the influence, and careless driving, police said.
Stephens is the 11th traffic-related fatality in Colorado Springs this year. Colorado Springs counted five traffic fatalities at this time last year.






