Barbara Lawlor, Boulder County.  Kelley Wiggins, 37, the driver of the 1997 Pontiac Firebird that was involved in a rollover accident that killed one person and injured four others, is facing vehicular homicide, vehicular assault, and reckless driving charges

Last week, on August 17, one of the passengers in the vehicle told Boulder Police that Wiggins said he crashed the car on purpose, trying to kill Alexus Valentin, 21, and the other male passenger, Ryan Hohlt.

On August 4, a  Colorado State Patrol trooper responded to the report of a single-car fatality accident in Boulder Canyon at the 30-mile marker. The car was down the embankment, on its side, wrapped around the tree it had hit and cracked in two.

Emergency responders from Nederland Fire Protection District, Sugarloaf, Boulder Emergency Squad, and Nederland and Boulder law enforcement officers were at the scene, working to extricate the three passengers who were trapped in the car.

The arrest affidavit states that a witness was in the third passing zone in the canyon and noticed a black vehicle pretty far back. When the passing zone ended, she saw that the black vehicle was right behind her and then passed at a high rate of speed. She said she had seen stupid and aggressive drivers in the canyon but, “I really thought they are going to die, they were going so fast.”

When she went around the next curve, she saw smoke and then the crashed vehicle. It is estimated that the Firebird was traveling about 90 mph when it rotated counter clockwise across the double yellow line and went off the road, colliding with the tree. During the impact Valentin was ejected and thrown into the creek where she was pronounced deceased.

Later, when the occupants were interviewed at the hospital, the police were told the two women and a child were in the back seat, Valentin in the back driver’s-side seat. Kelley was driving and the Hohlt was in the front passenger seat. The other female passenger, Ashlund Ellis, said they were driving up and down the canyon because Wiggins wanted, “to see what the car could do.”

Wiggins sustained life-threatening injuries and went into surgery immediately, unable to testify. Hohlt refused to testify.

Last week, on August 17, Ellis reported to the BPD that a domestic violence harassment had occurred on August 16. She stated that Wiggins had told her that he had killed Valentin on purpose and was attempting to kill Hohlt in the accident. He also reportedly said he was going to go back to California and was going to kidnap her and her daughter.

Wiggins was released from Boulder Community Hospital last Saturday, August 22, and taken into custody. Although investigators had looked into the possibility of drug or alcohol being involved, they could not perform impairment tests on Wiggins because of his injuries.

Vehicular homicide is a felony 4 offense; vehicular assault is a felony 5 offense and reckless driving is a class 2 misdemeanor.