I-70 wrong-way semi crash, near Limon, happened at mile marker 357, shortly after 8 p.m. when troopers got a call that a semi was heading west in the eastbound lanes of I-70. The Freightliner semi did not have its lights on, according to troopers. The highway was closed until 1 a.m. on Monday. Trista Gruntmeir and her family were driving home to Burlington eastbound on I-70 Sunday night when she noticed what looked like a motor home on the right side of the road far ahead of them with its parking lights on. Then, her husband, who was driving, noticed the vehicle was in fact a truck and heading straight toward them. "He [my husband] said 'This is coming right at us!' At that time, it was swerving into our lane, we're swerving around to miss it by going on the side of the road," Gruntmeir said. State patrol says a 77-year-old woman, also from Lamar, suffered serious injuries in the crash and a 9-year-old girl from Evergreen sustained moderate injuries. Both were passengers in the car. Hernandez was airlifted from the crash scene to Swedish Medical Center in Englewood, but later died. The 77-year-old woman and 9-year-old girl were taken via ambulance to Lincoln Community Hospital in Hugo. The woman was later airlifted to Swedish Medical Center andis listed ingood condition. The girl remains at Lincoln Community Hospital. Ross was airlifted to Penrose Main in Colorado Springs, released and taken into custody, according to troopers. Troopers say Ross was booked into the Elbert County Jail on charges of vehicular homicide, vehicular assault, driving under the influence of alcohol, reckless driving, carless driving causing injury, driving on the wrong side of the divided highway and driving with no headlamps. Ross is being held on $100,000 bond. "Thank goodness my husband was driving. All I could think about was 'What am I supposed to do? My baby's in the back seat!' I froze. I couldn't do anything. If I would have been driving, it probably would have been it," Gruntmeir said. Gruntmeir says she called 911 after they safely got past the truck but didn't hear sirens until several minutes later. A Limon Police Officer, who was dispatched to the 911 call, tried to pull the semi over before the crash, following the truck with his lights flashing and siren on for 4 or 5 miles on the correct side of the highway. She says if alcohol was involved at all, the semi-truck driver should be fully prosecuted. "We have got to stop this drunk driving," Gruntmeir said. "We were watching in horror. We knew something was going to happen and we didn't know how to stop it or warn anyone. It was really awful," Tara Pearce, a motorist from Fairplay, said. Pearce says the truck driver never braked. "All I wanted to do was warn somebody and it broke my heart," added Pearce. Troopers say they are still investigating the accident, including where the truck entered onto the highway going the wrong way. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has cited USA Truck, Inc, who owned the Freightliner Ross was driving, for at least three serious violations within the last year, involving issues over drugs and alcohol, vehicle maintenance and disqualified drivers. USA Truck employs 2,519 drivers and owns about 2,300 trucks that transport various commercial goods, like hay. In the last two years, the trucking company has had 13 violations for drivers possessing, using or being under the influence of alcohol or drugs, according to federal data. USA Truck, Inc. has had 100 crashes in the last two years with injuries or fatalities, according to FMCSA records. The company had 751 unsafe driving violations since 2008, including speeding, failing to obey traffic signs and failing to use a seatbelt. The company's last compliance review on Dec. 29, 2009 was satisfactory. USA Truck, based in Van Buren Ark., has not returned calls for comment about Sunday night's crash./>
