AURORA, Colo. — A man who was charged with lying about the circumstances of a hit-and-run crash that killed a man and his two dogs was sentenced to six years in community corrections, an alternative to prison.
Cullin Barnes was sentenced on April 28 after he pleaded guilty to a charge of attempting to influence a public servant in February in Arapahoe County District Court.
>The video above is a prior report about the case.
Jason Lyman and his dogs were killed in the early morning hours of Aug. 5, 2022, when the driver of a Toyota Sequoia went off the side of the road near the intersection of South Reservoir Road near East Mansfield Avenue and struck them. The driver left the scene, but the SUV sustained severe front-end damage and was left behind, according to Aurora Police (APD).
More than two months after the crash that killed Lyman, police announced that Stephen Carter and Cullin Barnes were both arrested on suspicion of attempting to influence a public servant. Both were accused of making false statements to investigators during the investigation into the fatal hit-and-run.
Neither is directly charged with causing Lyman's death, and it's unclear whether either of them or another yet-to-be-identified person was driving the SUV when it struck Lyman.
Carter pleaded guilty on June 26 to false reporting, which is a misdemeanor. A charge of attempting to influence a public servant was dismissed as part of the plea agreement. He was sentenced Sept. 18 to one year of probation and 48 hours of community service.
Police got the first call about the crash at 2:42 a.m., according to an arrest affidavit from APD. Barnes, the SUV's owner, called police to report it stolen later that morning, at 9:26 a.m., the affidavit says.
At that time, Barnes told police he had parked the SUV on a side street near his home around 2:30 a.m. When an officer called Barnes later that day, Barnes told the officer the last time he had seen the car was actually around 10:30 p.m., according to the affidavit.
An officer inspected the car and found no evidence that it had been stolen, according to the affidavit.
According to the affidavit, DNA found on the passenger's side airbag matched Barnes' DNA, indicating he was in the vehicle at the time of the crash. However, police said, he denied being the driver.
Police said they found an unknown woman's DNA on the driver's side airbag.
According to the affidavit, Carter's number was the first number Barnes called after the time of the crash. Cell phone location data shows Carter's and Barnes' phones eventually ended up near each other, then moved together to Barnes' home.
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