LAKEWOOD, Colo. — A man with six DUI convictions faces a jury this week for his alleged role in a deadly five-vehicle crash in Lakewood in September 2018.
Todd Grudznske, 47, faces 15 other charges including first-degree murder for the Sept. 30 incident, which happened at Colfax Avenue and Kipling Street, according to charging documents.
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Angela Wimmer, 25, was stopped at a red light, according to Lakewood police, when her vehicle was rear-ended by a truck that was apparently speeding – and the impact sent her car into the intersection.
This led to a crash involving three more vehicles, according to police. Wimmer, who was on her way home from church at the time, was taken to the hospital and later died from her injuries.
In addition to murder, Grudznske is also charged with:
- Two counts of vehicular homicide and one count of first-degree assault in Wimmer's death.
- Three counts of attempted first-degree murder and three counts of attempted first-degree assault, naming the other three motorists who were injured.
- Felony DUI -- he had six previous drunken driving convictions on his record.
- Violation of a protection order, issued in a domestic violence case, which prohibited him from drinking.
- Reckless driving.
The charging documents detail Grudznske’s previous DUIs, which happened before Colorado enacted its 2015 law that automatically makes a fourth DUI a felony.
His first DUI conviction was in 2000, prosecutors said, and his most recent was in 2007.
According to court documents, Grudznske had a protection order at the time of the crash that barred him from drinking alcohol.
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