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New details emerge in July crash that injured 4

A red Lexus involved in a July 29 accident on Highway 40 near Winter Park sits in the bottom left corner of the picture.
Todd Holzwarth/Courtesy Photo

Leah C. Cormican, 18 of Tabernash was booked in the the Grand County Jail on a warrant on Aug. 12. Cormican is being charged with a Class 5 felony of vehicular assault in a multi-vehicle crash July 29.

According to a Winter Park Fraser Police arrest affidavit, a Toyota Tacoma with a dashcam had been driving behind Cormican prior to the crash and recorded the incident. An accident reconstruction determined Cormican was driving between 71 to 81 mph in a 55 mph zone.

The video shows a white Jeep pulling a trailer driving in front of the Tacoma, both in the right of the two eastbound lanes, according to the affidavit. Cormican’s truck drove by in the left lane, approaching the gray Jeep, which was stopped in the left lane waiting for a break in traffic to turn left onto Service Road 128.



The document reads that the white truck made an attempt to stop a short distance from the gray Jeep and swerved to the left as it collided with the stopped vehicle. The impact pushed the gray Jeep forward and to the right, where it collided with the white Jeep, which drove off the road. Cormican’s truck continued into the westbound lane and hit a red Lexus, causing both vehicles to come to a stop and block the westbound and leftmost eastbound lane of traffic.

The Winter Park Fraser Police officer who wrote the affidavit spoke to witnesses who had seen Cormican using her phone while slowing down at a green light before the accident occurred. Officers found sealed and opened alcohol containers in Cormican’s front seat, but she recorded a breath alcohol content of 0.000 at Denver Health’s Winter Park Medical Center.



The driver and two passengers of the red Lexus sustained serious injuries that included a shattered pelvis, liver laceration, and collapsed lung. They were taken to St. Anthony’s Central in Denver, one by ambulance and two by medical helicopter. Cormican was taken to Denver Health in Winter Park, but the affidavit did not describe her injuries.

Editors Note: This story has been updated from the Aug. 19, 2022, print edition of the paper with a few clarifications.


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