Northern Colorado trooper stops wrong-way driver accused of speeding over 100 miles per hour

A suspected impaired driver is facing charges after Colorado State Patrol said he drove into oncoming traffic several times in Northern Colorado. Nelson Oldham, 36, is accused of driving at high speeds and in the wrong direction on both northbound and southbound I-25 lanes around Fort Collins.

911 calls obtained by CBS Colorado help paint the picture of what allegedly happened on Aug. 10. A woman reported that a black Mercedes had nearly hit her car, as it passed going more than 100 miles an hour near Fort Collins. She then reported that the driver of the Mercedes did a U-turn on the interstate, then drove southbound in the northbound lanes at high rates of speed.

"She comes into contact with this vehicle again and almost hits her again but now head-on," CSP Sgt. Ivan Alvarado said. "Obviously, for this poor witness, she almost got hit twice by this driver."

CSP said Oldham then illegally used an emergency responder pull-off in the median to then move onto the southbound lanes of I-25, heading toward Loveland.

That is when dashcam video from that night shows a trooper catching up to the Mercedes. Body camera footage from the trooper shows the driver slamming on the breaks in the express lane, as the Mercedes is suddenly moving toward the trooper in the wrong direction.

The Mercedes nearly hits the trooper head-on. The deputy turns his vehicle around and starts pursuing Oldham, both driving northbound on the shoulder of the southbound lanes.

CSP said Oldham then crossed oncoming traffic in order to take the exit for Highway 392. The trooper follows the Mercedes into Windsor with his lights and sirens on.

Oldham is then seen being cornered in the parking lot of an Arby's restaurant. The trooper draws his firearm and holds Oldham at gunpoint until backup arrives. Oldham was arrested without incident and placed in the back of the patrol car.

"I apologize," Oldham is heard telling the trooper.

"Don't apologize to me," the trooper responded. "Apologize to everybody you almost just killed on the interstate."

"When impairment is an issue, people do erratic things," Alvarado said.

Oldham was arrested and charged with vehicular eluding, driving under the influence, speeding, reckless endangerment, changing lanes when unsafe and driving a vehicle on the wrong side of a highway.

This incident was just one of 71 cases of wrong way driving CSP alone has responded to in 2025. Fifty-five resulted in property damage, and 12 ended in injury or serious injury.

"Four of them have been fatal," Alvarado sad.

The CSP sergeant said this case also shows why it is so important all drivers are paying attention to their surroundings and practice defensive driving.

"We need to put down the phone, put down the burger, put down the fries. We need to look outside the windshield and focus on that," Alvarado said.

Alvarado applauded the woman who called 911 to report the incident, noting her awareness of her surroundings helped save her life.

"She almost got hit twice. I am pretty sure she didn't get hit because she was paying attention to what she was doing," Alvarado said. "At the end of the day, what we want is for you to get to your destination safe."