Victims of major Highway 285 crash in Colorado say cars are still being held, express frustration with communication about impound fees
Nearly a year a horrific deadly crash on Highway 285 near Conifer, some surviving victims say their vehicles are still being held in Colorado impound lots.
In June, a semi truck driver slammed into traffic, forcing him to roll his truck on his side and dump a load of pipe and iron on top of five other vehicles. Those pipes fell on top of and killed one driver.
Photos from the aftermath of the crash show twisted and mangled metal that was at one time a Subaru that belonged to Annette Martin.
"We had decided we were going to have pizza for dinner and so I was just hopping in the car to run a quick errand," Martin said.
Nancy Flynn was also a victim in the crash. Her white Infinity was sideswiped. On the back window is a sticker that says "PRAY FOR ME I DRIVE 285." She believes that call for prayers was answered.
"It was a guardian angel watching over me or else I wouldn't have survived," Flynn said.
Both women are victims of Ignacio Cruz-Mendoza. He was an undocumented driver with no valid commercial driver's license who caused unimaginable pain in their lives.
"It's something that I could never unsee and I'm sure the rest of the victims will never unsee it," Flynn said, referring to the crash scene.
Cruz-Mendoza pleaded guilty, was sentenced, served his time and after being released in March he is now set to be deported.
Flynn and Martin say their vehicles remain as evidence and are part of an open investigation.
"The car is just sitting there accumulating money every day," Martin said. "$47 a day ... that I'm supposed to pay to get the car back when they finally release it."
Flynn says she was told the same thing when she asked about getting her car back. While her insurance company now owns her car, she claims her agents were never allowed to see it. And when she asked to get items from inside, she says she was told that couldn't happen.
Flynn says she wanted something on the car that for her was priceless.
"That particular license plate in our case was ... since our son had passed, we had a special license plate made. It was his soccer number and his initials and that meant a lot to us. And if we terminated that, we'd be giving that up," Flynn said.
Both women say they have struggled for months to get answers from the district attorney's office in Jefferson County and the Colorado State Patrol about why they would be responsible for paying storage fees associated with the impound lot.
CBS Colorado found they're not in fact responsible, and the fees cannot start until the legal hold is lifted.
A spokesperson for the Colorado State Patrol, the agency that arranged the tow and storage of the vehicles, says owners are typically responsible, but in a car accident the insurance of the driver responsible for the crash should pay those fees. In this case that would be Monique Trucking company, which, in the days following the crash, was shut down and, the victims learned, had a reduced policy with not enough money to pay for all the damages.
"That just adds to all the insanity of what's happened," Flynn said.
"I feel like the guy that caused the accident got away with a lot it. It was ridiculous," Martin said. "I feel like we are suffering more punishment than he did."
As of January, the DA's office says they offer impound assistance to victims, should they be faced with any fees.
In an email, the Colorado State Patrol says they are working on the ability to store vehicles in a secured lot at no cost to victims.
