THORNTON, Colo. — The driver arrested in connection with a fatal hit-and-run on Interstate 25 early New Year's morning in Thornton told police he was unaware he had hit a person until seeing a report on the news and realizing his vehicle was damaged, an arrest affidavit from Thornton Police says.
Court documents identify the victim as a 22-year-old woman from Texas.
She was hit by two vehicles on northbound I-25 north of 144th Avenue around 12:30 a.m. on Jan. 1. The driver of the second vehicle remained at the scene, but the first driver, identified as Adam Wooley, did not, according to Thornton Police.
Wooley, who was in a truck, sideswiped the woman as she walked onto the roadway, but did not stop, according to police. The second driver then struck her as she was lying in the road.
According to the arrest affidavit, the woman and two friends were in a rideshare headed back to a weekend home rental in Frederick. All three had been drinking, the affidavit says, and while on I-25 the woman who was hit became sick and vomited into the front passenger seat.
At that point, the affidavit says, the rideshare driver pulled over. According to the document, the woman became upset and got out of the vehicle, and walked east toward an open field. Her friends paid the driver and then followed her.
All three of them then began walking north parallel to the highway, but at one point the woman moved west and walked onto the highway where she was struck by Wooley's truck and fell down, the affidavit says.
Her friends attempted to stop traffic so that she would not be hit again, but were unsuccessful, the document says.
The driver of the second vehicle that hit the woman said his attention was drawn to a woman waving on the side of the road just before he hit something, which he initially thought might have been debris.
At the scene, investigators located evidence indicating another vehicle had also struck the woman. That included:
- Clear plastic which appeared to be from a headlight
- Tempered glass consistent with a back or side window
- Broken plastic housing for a side mirror
- A small piece of the mirror with a Dodge symbol on it
They later determined that the mirror had come from a Dodge Ram pickup truck made between 2002 and 2009, the affidavit says.
Investigators spoke with witnesses who had called 911 but did not stop. They reported that prior to the crash they were passed by a pickup truck that was "driving erratic and weaving," the affidavit says. When they got to the crash area they said they saw the truck driver "swerve to the right" all the way onto the east shoulder and then veer back and continue on.
They then saw a body in the roadway and other vehicles pulling over, the affidavit says.
After Thornton police put out a description of the truck, Wooley contacted them around 8:45 p.m. on Jan. 1. He told them "something" hit his truck and broke his driver's side window, headlight and mirror.
Police went to his home and located a red 2005 Dodge truck. It had the following damage:
- Broken side headlight on the driver's side
- Broken driver's side mirror, most of it is missing
- Shattered driver's side front window
- Crack across the lower portion of the windshield
Wooley spoke with police on Jan. 2 with his attorney. He said he was headed home on northbound I-25 in the right lane when his window broke. He thought it was a rock, the affidavit says. He reported that he looked around and didn't see anyone and continued on. He said he did not remember swerving.
He said that later that day he saw a report on the news about the crash in the area where his window broke. He said he went outside and saw damage on his truck and called the police.
Wooley is next due in court on Jan. 17 for an advisement hearing.
Police made contact with the rideshare driver, who cooperated with the investigation.
EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been edited to remove the victim's name.
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