Man pleads guilty to assault in Commerce City DUI crash involving injuries

The man accused of injuring four first responders after driving into a crash investigation while drunk pleaded guilty Wednesday to multiple charges, court records show.

Benjamin Winters, 24, was charged with five counts of assault: vehicular assault while driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, vehicular assault related to reckless driving and three counts of third-degree assault on a peace officer, according to court records. On Wednesday, he pleaded guilty to all charges.

Winters was arrested Dec. 7 on $10,000 bail after he allegedly drove past police barriers and struck two South Adams County firefighters and two Commerce City police officers investigating a drunken crash on Interstate 76 in west direction.

Officers were directing traffic to the right shoulder when Winters attempted to drive around the blockade on the left shoulder, hitting a cable guardrail and two firefighters before continuing west, injuring two police officers and hitting a police vehicle, according to the arrest affidavit.

One firefighter was taken to hospital with head injuries and a broken leg. The other firefighter and two officers were taken to hospital with serious injuries.

Winter will return to court on August 9 for his sentencing hearing.