WELD COUNTY, Colo — A man charged in a deadly crash that killed a Weld County Sheriff's Office in Sept. 2022 pleaded guilty Friday, court records show.
Noberto Garcia-Gonzales, 37, pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident involving death, a class three felony, in the death of Alexis Hein-Nutz, 24, on Sep. 18. The following charges were dismissed:
- Careless driving
- Failure to yield right of way
- Driving under restraint
- Obstructing a peace officer
Sentencing is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on Jan. 12.
Hein-Nutz was riding her motorcycle to the Weld County jail when the crash happened near the intersection of AA Street and Weld County Road 37.
A witness said she saw the motorcycle approaching and waited to proceed, and then saw the vehicle driven by Garcia-Gonzales pull out directly in front of the motorcyclist, according to an arrest affidavit.
The front of the motorcycle collided with the right side of the vehicle and was redirected to the right and fell over, the affidavit says. Hein-Nutz, who was wearing a helmet, was pronounced dead at the scene.
The witness reported seeing Garcia-Gonzales run from the scene and into a nearby cornfield.
Investigators identified Garcia-Gonzales as a suspect after locating the registered owner of the vehicle, who told that Garcia-Gonzales and another man used it to drive to work. She said that both men worked at a landscaping company.
He was arrested the night after the crash in Fort Collins.
Garcia has previously been convicted of DUI after two separate crashes, including one hit-and-run, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said.
Garcia-Gonzales doesn't have authorization to be in the country, according to the Weld County Sheriff's Office and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Hein-Nutz joined the Sheriff's Office in 2018 and after being a member of the Loveland Police Department's Explorers program was assigned to the jail as a detention deputy.
She was a 2016 graduate of Loveland High School, where she was the captain of the state championship junior ROTC program.
"She was driven, she was motivated, she was a hard charger and she was just a kid, and we are all going to miss her," Weld County Sheriff Steve Reams said at her funeral.
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