Colorado man pleads guilty in DUI crash that ejected child from vehicle in Parker
A Colorado man pleaded guilty in a Parker DUI crash that occurred on April 10, 2024. His vehicle struck a Hyundai carrying three people, including a 12-year-old child who was ejected from the vehicle upon impact. The child suffered a fractured skull, while his sister had severe spinal injuries, and their mother suffered minor injuries.
The crash occurred at the intersection of Chambers Road and Main Street in Parker. Diane Lampasona and her children were making a left-hand turn onto Chambers Road.
That's when Chase Lein, 32, of Elbert County, ran a red light and crashed into them, leaving her daughter, Addison, unconscious. Her son, Victor, was ejected from the vehicle.
"I, in a panic, just laid over him," Lampasona said. "We prayed and prayed and prayed, and we just waited for our rescuers to come to us."
For Lampasona, it was a miracle that everyone survived.
"I feel like angels were covering us. I don't know how we could have made it out without those protections."
Diane and her children have been on a year-long road to recovery. To this day, it's difficult for her to look back on the accident.
"Honestly, looking back at the photos makes me somewhat sick to my stomach," she said as she shared photos of the accident.
While the injuries they suffered were serious and life-threatening, the hardest part of recovery has been emotional.
"I'll be honest -- as a mom, this knocked me down for quite a while. Mentally, it was just really hard knowing what my kids went through."
For Lampasona, a guilty plea gave her a sense of peace for the man she's already forgiven.
"We're all people, and I know we all make mistakes," she said. "I do forgive him. My want for him is that he gets the help he needs and doesn't do this again and possibly have a different outcome at the end."
She says she's sharing her story to bring more awareness to drunk driving. This will be Lein's second DUI, and he's now facing 20-25 years in prison. His sentencing is set for June 2.