ADAMS COUNTY, Colo. — Testimony began Monday in the trial of a man accused of shooting and killing a Glen Haven volunteer firefighter in June 2022.
John Jaros was shot and killed while driving with his family on eastbound Interstate 70 near Tower Road. The Jaros family was headed to a campsite for Father's Day weekend.
Jeremy Rocha, now 22, was arrested and charged in Jaros' killing five days after the shooting. He's on trial in Adams County District Court on suspicion of:
- 2 counts first-degree murder
- 4 counts criminal attempted first-degree murder
- Sentence enhancer: crime of violence
According to the arrest affidavit, Jaros' wife told investigators there were two vehicles slowing traffic down purposefully to allow two other vehicles to race.
John Jaros passed the two slowed-down vehicles on the left shoulder of the interstate. According to Jaros' wife, he might have "brake-checked" the first two cars when he re-entered the driving lane.
Jaros' wife said she heard at least four gunshots and saw her husband slump over, the affidavit says. John Jaros had been hit in the head, the affidavit states.
Jaros' wife was able to get the truck into neutral and pulled off safely onto the shoulder, the affidavit says.
Two days after the shooting, a man called investigators and said he "believed he had been a part of it," the affidavit says.
The man said he was in his car with his cousin when a man driving a white Mustang pulled up and said "how nice-looking" his car was and invited him to a gas station at East 38th Avenue and Chambers Road, according to the affidavit.
The man said there were three other cars: a black Camaro, a white Mustang and a blue Mustang. The man said all four left the gas station and got on eastbound I-70. The man said the Camaro and white Mustang were lining up to race on the highway, the affidavit says.
The man said a white Dodge Ram truck, passed them on the shoulder. The man said he believed the truck had hit the Camaro and kept going and said that the white Mustang followed the truck, the affidavit says.
The witness said he didn't see the shooting and didn't know one had happened until he saw news reports of Jaros' killing, which prompted him to call police.
Gas station video and transactions
Security video from the gas station supported statements made by the witnesses and based on when the vehicles were at the gas station, investigators asked for transactions that occurred.
Detectives believed that one transaction was made by the driver of the black Camaro associated with the incident. Investigators tracked that person down and began combing through his social media accounts for anyone he might be associated with who had a white Mustang.
They also contacted the man in the black Camaro following a traffic stop and asked whether was willing to be interviewed about an "unrelated subject" and he agreed.
According to the affidavit, he identified the driver of the white Mustang as a high school acquaintance he knew as "Jeremey" who went by "JJ Rocha" on Facebook.
He described that the vehicles did a couple of races on the highway and then said a Ram truck passed them in the emergency lane at a "high rate of speed," the affidavit says.
He said he believed the truck may have hit the black Camaro, driven by his cousin, and was doing a "hit and run," according to the affidavit. He said he later observed damage to the front and rear end of the vehicle. He took a picture of the damage and provided it to investigators.
He said he went to check on his cousin, who said that the truck had pushed him into the guardrail while trying to overtake him, the affidavit says.
After the shooting, the man said he and his cousin were on the side of the highway where they were "conversing" with Jeremey. During that conversation, the witness reported that Jeremey said he "needed to go," and that he had "dumped the clip." According to the affidavit, the witness said he took that to mean that Jeremey had emptied his gun magazine with bullets into the Ram truck.
The witness reported that Jeremey "did not seem remorseful" about what happened.
He said, however, he did not know someone had actually been shot until he saw news reports. He said he and his cousin didn't come forward because they knew they were not supposed to be street racing, according to the affidavit.
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