Charges filed in Lucero fatal

COSTILLA COUNTY — District Attorney Crista Newmyer-Olsen filed charges this week against Robert Greenlee, 75, of Lafayette, Colo. for causing the death of Patricia Lucero, 70, of Alamosa, in a Dec. 28, 2016, crash on La Veta Pass.
Among the charges is a felony vehicular homicide charge. The case was filed with the court in Costilla County where the crash occurred.
Driving a 2003 Cadillac Escalade west on Colorado 160 the afternoon of Wednesday, Dec. 28, Greenlee’s vehicle hit Lucero’s 2010 Toyota Camry when he crossed into her lane to pass another vehicle. Lucero was headed east on Highway 160.
After the initial collision Lucero’s vehicle collided with a 2015 Freightliner pulling a trailer in her lane and a 2006 Kia Spectra in the oncoming lane. After hitting Lucero’s vehicle Greenlee’s vehicle hit another vehicle head on in the oncoming lane, a BMW X5, before going off the edge of the highway.
Costilla County Coroner Tommy Rodriguez pronounced Lucero dead at the scene.
Greenlee and his wife Diane were injured in the crash.
At the time of the crash, the Colorado State Patrol identified speed as a contributing factor. Greenlee was driving 87 mph in a 65 mph zone at the time of the crash.
Lucero was the chairperson of the 26th annual Free Community Christmas Dinner, which was held in Alamosa just a few days before she died. She had been involved with the dinner for 20 years.
Lucero was a New Mexico native who initially moved to the San Luis Valley to attend Adams State. She was also a longtime Alamosa County employee, working for many years as a deputy in the Clerk and Recorder’s office. More recently she had worked in the county land use office and for the 12th Judicial Court in Alamosa.
She had three daughters and numerous grandchildren.
Greenlee is a former mayor and councilman of Boulder, founder of Boulder’s KBCO radio station and co-founder of Rock Bottom Restaurants according to The Daily Camera newspaper. He lost a close race for the U.S. House of Representatives to Mark Udall in 1998. He is a columnist for The Daily Camera.
 “On behalf of our parents and families, we would like to express our deepest sympathies to the loved ones of … Pat Lucero, who lost her life in this tragic accident,” AnneMarie Kemp, Greenlee’s daughter, said in a statement to “The Daily Camera” in December. “We understand she was a beloved member of her community and will be terribly missed by all who knew and loved her.”


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