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Woman killed in hit-and-run after rideshare driver left her on Colorado interstate as she was feeling 'ill'

Thornton police stated that the woman was hit by two cars at about 12.33 am on January 1 in the northbound lanes of I-25 between 144th Avenue and Colorado 7

DENVER, COLORADO: Authorities claimed that a rideshare driver left a young woman on the side of a Colorado interstate early on New Year's Day after she "became ill," and she subsequently died in a hit-and-run accident.

Thornton police stated that the woman, who has not been officially identified, was hit by two cars at about 12.33 am on Sunday, January 1, 2023, in the northbound lanes of I-25 in Thornton, between 144th Avenue and Colorado 7. Investigators think the rideshare driver abandoned the woman and her friends on the side of the road after she "became ill" inside the car. Officer Jesus Mendez of the Thornton Police Department said that the rideshare driver thought the woman vomited or felt nauseous, but he wasn't sure if she did so inside the car or if the driver had stopped so she could do so outside, as reported by the Denver Post. The rideshare driver was unable to tell whether the woman was intoxicated.

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Mendez was also unsure as to whether the rideshare was terminated by the woman and her friends voluntarily or if the driver asked them to leave. He said, "She paid; the ride was terminated. Who terminated it and what happened there, I do not know."

Police reported that the unidentified woman, who was only described as being in her 20s, then "walked out into the roadway and was sideswiped by a dark truck that never stopped but continued driving," on the highway, where the speed limit is 65 mph. The woman was later killed after being hit by a second vehicle. This driver remained at the scene in contrast to the driver of the first vehicle.

Authorities reported that the hit-and-run driver, Adam Wooley, 33, of the nearby town of Fredrick, Colorado, turned himself in on Monday, January 2. His truck was seized and he was accused of a hit-and-run involving a fatality.

Officer Mendez also claimed that it is unlikely the rideshare driver will be charged criminally. "I do know that is not the cause of the accident. It's not that a vehicle ran off the side of the road and struck them. This person walked out into the roadway and was struck," he stated.