WELD COUNTY, Colo. — A 53-year-old man who was arrested in August 2022 in the death of a woman who was hit by debris when the excavator he was hauling hit a bridge on Interstate 25 pleaded guilty Friday, court documents show.
Darnell Yingling pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide – reckless driving in the crash that killed Megan Arneson, and the following charges were dismissed:
- Criminally negligent homicide
- Child abuse – reckless bodily injury
- Reckless driving
Sentencing is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. on January 5.
>The video above is from May.
Yingling was driving a semitruck, towing the construction equipment when he hit the Weld County Road 34 bridge above I-25 around 6 p.m. Aug. 8.
The arm of the excavator collided with the concrete crossbeams, sending large pieces of debris onto a Honda SUV driven by Arneson. Her son, who was also in the SUV, was injured in the crash.
About a month after the crash, Arneson's family filed a lawsuit against Yingling and his employer, Import Towing and Recovery.
It alleges that Yingling and the company were responsible for making sure the excavator was adequately secured for transport but "recklessly and negligently" failed to do that.
The suit also claims that no one made sure the excavator's arm was lowered and properly secured. It says that Yingling drove under the overpass without ensuring it was safe to do so with the large load he was carrying.
That lawsuit was still working its way though the court system, with a status conference scheduled for Dec. 6.
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