DENVER (KDVR) — Two pedestrians are dead after being hit by a vehicle in Centennial on Sunday night.
Around 10 p.m. on Sunday, the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office said its dispatch started receiving calls about the crash on East Smoky Hill Road and South Waco Street. This is near Big Sandy Park, southwest of the Prides Crossing neighborhood.
“It’s about 10:05 last night, I’m sitting on the couch watching replays of football on ESPN and heard just what sounded like an explosion or just very loud boom and you don’t hear something like that that loud,” resident Grant Renner said. “I immediately grabbed my shoes, ran out, saw the corner just saw debris all over the place. And then when saw a lady laying on the ground moaning, she was reaching her hand up.
“And I immediately called 911 and I went over there. I don’t want to go into full detail,” Renner added. “Nobody needs to understand what I saw. But, I was letting her know that help is on the way.”
The sheriff’s office said two pedestrians were hit by a vehicle, and one was pronounced dead at the scene. The other pedestrian was taken to a nearby hospital with an “amputation to their leg.” Police later released that two people had died from the incident, identified as Susan Bailey, 60, and Suzan Gaymes, 41.
The sheriff’s office said the driver was cooperative and stayed on the scene. No drugs or alcohol were suspected, and the driver was released pending charges.
“It’s not OK and it’s this is constant over here with these accidents,” Renner said. “It’s speeding. Street racing. And it’s all hours. It’s usually when it gets dark, you hear just cars flying. You can tell that they’re going well over the speed limit, motorcycles going well over the speed limit constantly.”
In the same spot where Renner rushed to help these victims last night, police say they have responded to several crashes.
“We actually the night before, early Sunday morning, had a crash in the exact same place,” Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office Deputy John Bartmann said.
Last year, Renner and his wife responded to the same corner for a teenager hit and killed.
“My wife was sitting on the couch and heard the boom and saw the truck move,” Renner said. “His name is Levi. We both witnessed him. And I don’t want to go into details on what we saw, but it’s this is stuff that nobody should ever have to see in their life.”
The roadway was shut down between South Tower Road and South Telluride Street through the night, but reopened early on Monday morning. This comes after the Aurora Police Department closed two lanes of westbound Smoky Hill Road at South Ivory Court due to a multi-vehicle crash on Sunday night.
FOX31 asked the sheriff’s office about safety concerns at the corner.
“In that particular area, it is a little bit under lit, It seems It can get pretty dark late at night,” Bartmann said. “You know, it’s a cliche and say drive the speed limit all the time, but it really is. Speed does kill. And we have now a two fatalities there at Smoky Hill and Waco that didn’t have to die.”
At this time, it’s unclear the identity of the driver.
FOX31 reached out to the city of Centennial about lighting and speed concerns at this corner. The city said that the traffic team is working with the sheriff’s office to evaluate if changes need to be made. The sheriff’s office said this crash is being investigated by its traffic safety unit.
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