One person died and three others were injured in a Monday morning crash that shut down part of northbound U.S. 285 in Jefferson County for hours, according to the Colorado State Patrol.
A wrong-way driver in an Acura RL collided with two cars on the northbound highway at 5:19 a.m. Monday, according to a news release from the state agency.
The 33-year-old Acura driver, who has not been publicly identified, was headed southbound on northbound U.S. 285 when he hit a Cadillac CTW, causing it to spin out into a Chevrolet Colorado.
The three-car crash happened near mile marker 249, about one mile south of C-470, state officials said.
Paramedics took four people to hospitals, with three in critical condition, West Metro Fire Rescue said.
That includes the Acura driver, the 59-year-old man driving the Cadillac, a 64-year-old woman who was a passenger in the Cadillac and the 51-year-old man driving the Chevrolet, state patrol officials said.
The Cadillac driver later died from his injuries, according to the state patrol. He has not been publicly identified.
Firefighters had to extricate patients from two of the cars involved in the crash, West Metro officials said.
Northbound U.S. 285 was closed between Parmalee Gulch Road and Colorado 8 for more than six hours during the crash cleanup and investigation, according to state transportation officials.
The highway fully reopened at 11:16 a.m., according to a state patrol update.
Anyone with information about the crash is asked to contact Colorado State Patrol at 303-239-4501.
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