A 26-year-old Colorado man has died as a result of his injuries after crashing into three other cars and being partially ejected, according to the Aurora Police Department. The man was clocked by a speed enforcement officer as going almost 100 MPH and running a red light before crashing.
The crash happened around 8 p.m. on Monday at the intersection of Alameda Parkway and South Airport Boulevard.
Aurora police say the Tesla was clocked at 97 MPH while it was traveling westbound on Alameda Parkway near South Quintero Way. The officer initially pursued the driver, but after he accelerated, the officer terminated the pursuit, the department said.
That driver, who has not yet been identified, ran a red light at South Airport Boulevard/South Buckley Road, striking one car, spinning out, and then colliding with two others, including an Aurora police vehicle, before catching fire. The driver was partially ejected and died at the scene, according to police.
Advertisement
Aurora firefighters monitor a Tesla fire after the driver of the Tesla allegedly ran a red light and crashed into three other vehicles after being clocked at 97 MPH by a police officer on Monday, March 24, 2025.
Aurora Police Department
Six others — two adults and four children — who were in the first vehicle the Tesla struck were taken to the hospital with minor injuries. The Aurora Police officer and the other driver weren’t injured.
The battery of the Tesla entered what officials referred to as “thermal runaway,” which is when the lithium-ion batteries heat up so fast that they catch fire or sometimes even explode. Aurora Fire Rescue responded and monitored the Tesla, letting the fire burn out while keeping people away.
Advertisement
The crash and subsequent fire also damaged the road itself, as well as traffic lights in the area, and Aurora Public Works responded to clear the road and repair the traffic lights. The road was partially reopened around 1:40 a.m. Tuesday and fully reopened around 2:15 a.m.
APD is currently investigating the crash, and the deceased driver will be identified by the coroner’s office.
Austen Erblat
Advertisement
Austen Erblat is a digital producer and assignment editor at CBS News Colorado and is Covering Colorado First. Originally from South Florida, he’s been working as a journalist in Denver since 2022.
Police in Northern Colorado are investigating after a crash involving multiple vehicles claimed the life of a pedestrian.
The Greeley Police Department received reports of a crash at the 5500 block of Highway 34 around 5:50 p.m. on Monday. When officers arrived, they discovered that two vehicles were involved in a crash with a 19-year-old woman who attempted to walk across the highway.
Police said there was no crosswalk in the area, and she was struck by the driver’s side of a Chevrolet Blazer. The impact knocked the woman into the inside lane, where she was struck by a Chevrolet Traverse. A witness told officers they saw the woman crossing the roadway ‘as traffic arrived at her location.’
Advertisement
First responders attempted life-saving measures on the woman at the scene before she was taken to North Colorado Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead. GPD said the Weld County Coroner’s Office will release her identity at a later time.
Neither driver involved was injured in the crash. Police said they don’t expect charges to be filed against those drivers at the moment, but the case remains under investigation. The police department asked anyone with information on the crash to contact Officer Ed Kubala at Edward.Kubala@greeleypd.com.
Colorado’s best ski deal? Maybe one that costs nothing at all. At Steamboat Springs’ Howelsen Hill, “Sunday Funday is taken to an entirely new level,” reads the city webpage for Ski Free Sundays. Yes, on Sundays throughout the season, visitors need only to walk into the ticket office to grab a pass at no charge. […]
While Colorado ranks near the middle of U.S. states for carbon emissions per capita, it still produces enough CO2 per person to rival countries on the World Bank’s list of top emitters internationally.
In 2023, Colorado produced 13.9 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions per capita. If it had been ranked by the World Bank during the same year, Colorado would have placed 14th among the more than 200 countries on the list, just behind Canada, at 14.1, and just ahead of the U.S. as a whole, at 13.7.
Among U.S. states, Colorado ranked 26th in carbon emissions per capita. Wyoming had the highest per capita emissions in the country, at 92.9 metric tons, while Maryland had the lowest, at 7.8.
Most of Colorado’s emissions come from energy production and consumption, primarily natural gas and oil production and electric power production and consumption.
Advertisement
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
The Colorado Sun partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims.
Sources
References:
Colorado State Energy Profile, U.S. Energy Information Administration, accessed in December 2025. Source link
Advertisement
2023 Colorado Statewide Inventory of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks, pg. 128, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, November 2024. Source link
Senate Bill 24-230 Oil and Gas Production Fees, Colorado General Assembly, accessed in December, 2025. Source link
Senate Bill 23-016 Greenhouse Gas Reduction Measures, Colorado General Assembly, accessed in December 2025. Source link
Carbon dioxide emissions, World Bank Group, 2024, accessed in December 2025. Source link
Energy-related CO2 emission data tables, U.S. Energy Information Administration, accessed in December 2025. Source link
Advertisement
Type of Story: Fact-Check
Checks a specific statement or set of statements asserted as fact.
Advertisement
Cassis Tingley is a Denver-based freelance journalist. She’s spent the last three years covering topics ranging from political organizing and death doulas in the Denver community to academic freedom and administrative accountability at the…
More by Cassis Tingley
