DENVER — A neighborhood just west of Interstate 25 has seen a handful of crashes over the last few years, and those who live in the area think it's only a matter of time before someone gets seriously hurt.
Earlier this month, surveillance video captured a car speeding through Arizona Avenue and Tennyson Street, and then slamming into two parked vehicles.
“I saw my daughter’s car flipped over the neighbors and then my husband’s co-worker’s car under both those other cars," said Renee Vasquez. "We put these cones up because almost every day someone’s car is getting side swiped or getting hit all the time. I’ve lived in this area for three years and the second day that I lived here – my car was hit and then my husband’s car was hit not too long after."
No one was injured in the most recent crash. According to Denver Police, the driver, 20-year-old Jovanny Arriaga, was traveling northbound at an unknown speed. Arriaga's vehicle rolled over and also hit a third car in a driveway.
Arriaga was cited for careless driving, driving without a license or insurance and possession of drug paraphernalia.
“This is the main reason why we don’t let our kids play outside and it’s because of all the wrecks happening -- its nonstop, " said Vasquez. "From my experience, it’s always during the day, so it’s not a safe area for our kids to even play in our front yard."
In the last two years, Denver police have seen similar crashes:
- Two crashes happened in the 1100 block S. Tennyson:
- 2/17/24: Motorist struck a parked car and drove away
- 6/21/24: Motorist struck a parked car and fled on foot
- A crash on 4/11/23 involved a motorist making a U-turn mid-block in the 1200 block of S. Tennyson St. when they were struck by another motorist.
- A crash on 11/6/22 involved a motorist who struck two parked cars in the 1200 block S. Tennyson St. and drove away.
Neighbors said Arizona Avenue and Tennyson Street can be a cut through for drivers who try to avoid all the traffic on Sheridan or Federal blvds.
"I sent an email to the city, requesting for a stop sign or speed bumps or something of that nature. We just have the cones to try and keep us safe, but that cone wouldn’t have done anything you know to stop that driver," said Vasquez. "Look out for the community. We need to be safe, and we want our kids to play outside, we want to feel like they’re safe out here. We don’t want to keep them secluded in the backyard because we are in fear of a car crash or something."
Denver's Department of Transportation and Infrastructure sent this statement to 9NEWS reporter Briana Fernandez:
"While this stretch is not on our high injury network where most fatal and serious injury crashes are occurring in the city, it’s safe to say some careless driving behaviors have occurred on these two blocks the last two years, with four incidents of parked cars being struck, including three hit and runs. Our engineering team plans to go out to gather speed data at this location and perform a site visit to see what short term changes can be made to improve safety and use the information gathered to determine next steps."