A 24-year-old Ignacio woman is suspected of distracted driving after she crashed into a vehicle and killed one man and seriously injured another while they were setting up a work zone on Colorado Highway 172, east of Durango.
The crash occurred at 8:35 a.m. Thursday near mile marker 20, which is about 2½ miles south of the Elmore’s Corner intersection (U.S. Highway 160 and Highway 172), according to the Colorado State Patrol. The crash occurred near a 90-degree bend in the road, close to County Road 307.
Virginia Cundiff was driving west when her white 2015 Subaru WRX went off the right shoulder and struck the side of a work truck that was parked on the right side of the road, according to an incident report.
Two men were outside the vehicle setting up a work zone at the time of the crash.
“They were putting out their warning signs advising that there was going to be some work going on the highway,” said Trooper Brandon Hollibaugh with the State Patrol.
Dominic Sandoval, 22, of Farmington was stepping down from the bed of the truck on the driver’s side with his back turned toward the approaching vehicle when he was struck, Hollibaugh said.
Sandoval fell into Cundiff’s windshield and went partially through her passenger-side windshield, according to the crash report. He died from his injuries.
Joel Arriola, a co-brother-in-law, said Sandoval was an Army reservist who would “give you the shirt off his back.”
“He was a really quiet, reserved young man, but he was just full of love,” Arriola said. “... He just had a good heart. This was totally unexpected. We’re definitely going to miss his warmness and his energy that he always used to bring to family gatherings.”
The family has set up a GoFundMe page at https://gofund.me/08a89344.
The impact pushed the work truck forward and off the west side of the road, striking George Sedlack, another worker who was putting out signs and cones for the work zone.
Sedlack, 53, of Colorado Springs was taken to Mercy Hospital by ambulance with serious injuries.
In an interview Tuesday, Sedlack said he suffered three fractured ribs, his right knee is “banged up,” and he has road rash on his back, shoulder and the top of his head.
“I have a severely, severely injured left foot,” he said. “It looks like a freakin’ loaf of bread right now it’s so swollen.”
Sedlack said it was his third and final day in that location. They were setting up a construction zone to lay fiber optics for the Southern Ute Indian Tribe.
Neither he nor Sandoval saw the vehicle coming, he said. He heard the boom from the vehicles colliding, heard Cundiff’s vehicle engine spinning down and did his best to keep from being pinned under the work truck.
He said Cundiff would have passed one construction sign 500 feet before the crash site. He also had emergency lights activated on his work truck.
“It’s horrific. It’s senseless,” Sedlack said. “Dominic was great. He had been working with me for a month and was absolutely wonderful. (I) enjoyed every moment working with him.”
Hollibaugh said it appears Cundiff became distracted by something when she crashed into the work truck.
“From what the witness who observed it said, she abruptly swerved into the vehicle,” he said. “She was driving down the highway pretty straight westbound, and then kind of last second just abruptly swerved into that vehicle.”
Cundiff faces a possible felony charge and several misdemeanors, but Hollibaugh declined to be more specific, saying the case remains under investigation.
“That’s what’s being further investigated, what was she distracted by? Why would she be driving straight and then abruptly turn? But it looks like it’s going to be a distracted driver situation,” Hollibaugh said.
Drugs and alcohol are not suspected contributing factors, he said.
Cundiff was taken to Mercy with minor injuries.
shane@durangoherald.com
