Sparks flew from stroller, witnesses say

Sue Lindsay, Rocky Mountain News

Published January 17, 2007 at midnight

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Witnesses watched in horror Nov. 10 as Lawrence Trujillo mowed down a family of four near the 16th Street Mall, sparks flying from under his truck as he dragged a stroller down the street, a detective testified Tuesday at a preliminary hearing.

A number of witnesses told police they saw Trujillo's white pickup driving erratically down Arapahoe Street before he hit the Bingham family at about 8:55 p.m., Denver Detective Tilo Voitel testified.

Trujillo told police he had been drinking for nearly nine hours at a number of bars and strip clubs before the accident, Voitel said.

Trujillo ran a red light at the 16th Street Mall, swerved several times and barely missed parked cars before he ran a second light at 15th and Arapahoe streets and plowed into the Bingham family in the middle of a crosswalk, Voitel said.

Witnesses said he was driving 40 to 50 mph in a 25 mph zone, the detective said.

The truck briefly braked and then sped off, leaving three Binghams dying in the street, said Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey.

Bits of the blue and yellow tandem stroller were found hanging from the truck's bumper and undercarriage, said Voitel, who arrived at the scene to find the mangled stroller in the middle of the street.

After hitting the family, Trujillo, 36, continued drinking at strip clubs, Morrissey said.

Trujillo was ordered Tuesday to stand trial on multiple counts of vehicular homicide and child abuse in the deaths of Becca Bingham, 39, and her two children, 4-year-old Macie and 2-year-old Garrison.

Frank Bingham, the children's father, was injured but survived.

Police traced the car to Trujillo's wife from a license plate that fell off when the truck hit the family.

When Trujillo was arrested in another vehicle at 1:05 a.m. Nov. 11, he had a blood alcohol content of 0.156 percent, Voitel said.

Trujillo admitted he was drunk and shouldn't have been driving, Voitel said.

Trujillo claimed he didn't know that the family had been hit, Voitel said.

Eric Snell, a passenger in the truck, said they stopped to check damage to the truck after leaving downtown. Trujillo knew he hit the family and offered to give Snell "work" in exchange for not talking to police, Voitel said.

Defense attorney Robert Bernhardt suggested that Snell, not Trujillo, may have been driving, but Voitel said Trujillo admitted he was the driver.

Snell was arrested Nov. 11 for running a red light at Colfax Avenue and Osage Street by officers who weren't aware of his connection to the hit-and-run, Voitel said.

Snell is charged with six counts of accessory to a crime and one count of DUI.

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