Over a year after a pedestrian was struck and killed in Commerce City, a man has been charged about the fatal hit-and-run incident. As reported by Denver7, the 17th Judicial District Attorney's Office has filed a charge against 41-year-old Zachary Brooks. Brooks is accused of leaving the scene of a crash that resulted in death, a Class 3 felony, for his alleged involvement in the 2023 collision that claimed the life of a 68-year-old pedestrian.
Details surrounding the incident unravel when dispatchers received a call on November 12, 2023, at approximately 9:40 p.m., regarding a man lying in the road in the 7500 block of Brighton Boulevard. Upon arrival, authorities pronounced a man dead at the scene, as detailed by KDVR.
The pursuit of justice has been an extensive process, with investigators piecing together the events that led to the tragic death. It was not until a year and a half after the incident that significant advancements in the case were made. According to 9News, information from a Facebook post indicated that the only lead for a lengthy duration was a grainy surveillance image. This visual evidence, however modest, ultimately contributed to the arrest of Brooks on January 10th.
Court records, as detailed by 9News, show that Brooks was formally charged on Thursday morning following his arrest, although a new court date has yet to be established. The delay between the crime and the charging has not been explained but represents an oft-too-common wait for resolution in many hit-and-run cases. The district attorney's office has not provided further comments on the case at this time.
