Alleged drunk driver kills two teens

Ellen Miller, Special to the News

Published March 23, 2007 at midnight

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CLIFTON — The allegedly drunk driver of an SUV made an obscene gesture at Colorado State Patrol troopers as they tried to stop him on Interstate 70 moments before he plowed at 120 mph into the back of a passenger car and killed two college students, authorities said today.

Strawmatt

Patrick Strawmatt, 42, a former officer with the Lafayette police department, was jailed for investigation of vehicular homicide and DUI.

He had to be extricated from the wreckage and during the process, "He resisted and attempted to spit on" firefighters, patrol Trooper Ron Greasley said.

Jennifer Kois of Brighton and Jacob Brock of Eagle, both 19, believed to be students at Mesa State College in Grand Junction, both died in the crash. Their car was demolished.

Troopers said they received a report of a Toyota 4Runner driving erratically westbound on I-70 between Palisade and Clifton, and attempted to contact the driver near the Clifton exit.

When troopers activated their lights, Greasley said, Strawmatt "extended his hand out the window giving a gesture that indicated to us he was not going to stop."

Greasley said the 4Runner then accelerated to an estimated 120 mph before slamming into the rear of a Saturn SC2 occupied by Kois and Brock.

Troopers chased the vehicle for about three miles, he said. The teens' car went off the highway at impact and rolled several times, throwing out both occupants.

Both were pronounced dead at St. Mary's Hospital. Strawmatt received unspecified medical treatment before he was booked into the Mesa County Jail and is being held under a $1 million bond.

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