Family mourns death of 19-year-old son in crash; Ft. Carson staff sergeant charged with DUI, vehicular homicide
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - A Fort Carson Staff Sergeant (SSG) is facing charges of vehicular homicide and driving under the influence after allegedly causing an early-morning crash that killed a 19-year-old.
Shauna Reyes and her husband Francisco said their son Benito Reyes always comes straight home after completing his shift at the Amazon Warehouse, which ends at 12:30 A.M.
"I woke up about, like, two in the morning, and I noticed that he wasn't home, so I sent him a text message. He didn't reply," Shauna Reyes said. "I got back up around five and noticed that he still hadn't been home, so I started panicking because it's not like him."
However, on October 24, Benito Reyes never came home. The Reyes family said location services showed their son's phone wasn't moving from the intersection of East Platte Avenue and Space Center Drive. Before they could even get to that location, they ran into a police barricade.
Eventually, Shauna Reyes said, they made it to the intersection and saw their son's Black Audi wrecked.
"The police officer just had, like, a shocked look on his face. We could tell by the look on his face that there was something wrong. So my husband asked him, 'We know that's Benito. Is he dead?' And he looked at us and just took a deep breath, and he said, yes," Shauna Reyes said.
According to the arrest affidavit, Colorado Springs police say a 911 caller reported a two-car traffic crash at the intersection of E Platte Ave and Space Center Dr at 12:47 A.M. on October 24.
At the scene was 28-year-old Calvin Dittmeier, whom officers described in the affidavit as smelling of alcohol and being thick-tongued. The affidavit says Dittmeier failed the field sobriety test.
Police say Dittmeier didn't yield to oncoming traffic when he had a flashing yellow turn signal, leading to him striking Benito Reyes' car, which then hit the bridge railing, killing him instantly.
Dittmeier initially told police at the scene that he had a solid green arrow when turning and claimed Reyes' car ran the light. However, the affidavit states images taken by the Pre-Collision System in Dittmeier's Toyota Tundra show a flashing yellow left turn signal.
Dittmeier is facing charges of driving under the influence and vehicular homicide. His first court appearance is set for the end of this week.
KRDO13 asked Ft. Carson if Dittmeier has been suspended from his position on post. The spokesperson said they could not answer that question.
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