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Rash Of Weekend Accidents Leave Seven Dead, Six Injured

November 11, 2005

Seven people died and six were injured in a series of unrelated traffic accidents during a bloody weekend on Colorado's highways.

The deadly weekend began with the deaths of two young men who were killed in Jefferson County when the Mercedes-Benz convertible they were in crashed early Saturday morning. The Colorado State Patrol reported that the Mercedes was speeding through a stop sign at a T-shaped intersection on West 58th Avenue. The vehicle hit rocks, trees and a fence before going airborne about 125 feet over a ditch.

The patrol identified the victims as driver Adam Campbell, 22, and passenger Justin Westdahl, 25, both of Arvada. Campbell's older brother, Chase, said Sunday that Adam Campbell was a former all-conference cornerback for Arvada West High School. He was about one year away from graduating with a business degree from Metropolitan State College of Denver. Adam Campbell wasn't quite sure what he would do after graduating, his older brother said. 'He told me, 'I just don't want to get out only to start a 9-to-5 sales job that I'll have no interest in.' ' When Chase Campbell talked to his younger brother Friday night, he said Adam had mentioned possibly joining the Peace Corps to perfect his Spanish. Adam Campbell spent a semester last year in Spain, where Westdahl and another friend went to visit him. 'He was a very smart and witty kid,' Chase Campbell said of his brother.

Elsewhere, in Weld County, one person was killed Sunday morning when a semitrailer carrying crude oil hit five cows that had wandered onto Colorado 66 near Weld County Road 21. The driver, Arthur Anton, 43, of Cheyenne, sustained only moderate injuries, but his passenger, Jolie Kirshner, 41, of Cheyenne, was killed. The five cows also died. The impact spilled about 200 gallons of oil into a ditch near the roadway. A Colorado State Patrol hazardous material crew was dispatched to clean up the site, spokesman Don Moseman said.

In Commerce City, Joshua Michael Gonzalez, 18, of Westminster, died Sunday while apparently trying to beat a locomotive at a train crossing. The accident occurred about 4:45 a.m. on the Union Pacific Railroad tracks east of U.S. 85 and west of Havana Street. When officers arrived, they found Gonzalez inside a Chevrolet Blazer that had been pushed several blocks north on the tracks. 'The gates were down and the lights were flashing,' Commerce City police spokesman Cesar Berumen said. 'It appears he tried to beat the train.'

In Larimer County, the Colorado State Patrol was investigating whether marijuana or other drugs were a factor in a crash that killed a Denver man and left three teenagers seriously injured. The accident occurred Saturday at 3:30 p.m. on northbound Colorado 287. Troopers said Amber Maisel, 18, of Littleton, was driving a Honda Civic with four passengers. Maisel told troopers that she had missed a turn onto Colorado 14 and was attempting to make a U-turn when a GMC sport utility vehicle hit the Honda broadside. All five occupants of the Honda were taken to Poudre Valley Hospital, where Joseph Cochrane, 22, of Denver, died of his injuries.

Patrol spokesman Moseman said investigators have determined that the driver of the SUV, who suffered minor injuries, was not at fault. They are investigating whether Maisel was driving while under the influence of marijuana, he said.

A 76-year-old man died Sunday afternoon after his car veered off the Pikes Peak Highway near the summit in El Paso County. His car left the highway as he was coming down the mountain and crashed into a rocky ravine below, Colorado Springs police said. The man, whose name wasn't released, was the only person in the car.

In Douglas County, Mark Stegman, 54, of Colorado Springs, died when his Harley-Davidson motorcycle sideswiped a car and ran off southbound Colorado 67 about 1:50 p.m. Saturday. Moseman said that just before the accident, several motorists had called to report a motorcycle passing recklessly in a no-passing zone.