A Denver man accused of killing one and injuring at least seven others after he rammed a truck into an after-hours Golden bar crowd told Jefferson County Sheriffs Deputies who arrested him that he was "f*** drunk," according to the arrest affidavit obtained by the Denver Gazette.
Ruben Marquez, 29, has possible gang ties, the warrant reported, and had four previous convictions for auto theft. One of those was in 2016, another was committed in 2017 and yet another in 2018. He was on supervised probation Sunday.
Deputies said that while they were booking Marquez, his eyes were glassy, his speech was slurred and he had a hard time keeping his balance.
Marquez is one of two men accused in the crime, where dozens of people were in harm's way outside the Rock Rest Lodge at 16005 Mt. Vernon Road around closing time Sunday morning. Marquez and his younger cousin, Ernesto DeJesus Avila, 25, appeared in video-conference court Monday morning. A third man in the truck was not arrested.
Witnesses told sheriff's investigators the truck threw one man into the air when he was hit, according to the affidavit. Some of those injured were employees of the Rock Rest Lodge — several of whom broke up the fight that preceded the crash — and others were patrons. The incident started as a fist fight outside of the building, employees told police, when three people got into the truck and "gunned the gas" causing it to lurch forward.
Marquez and Avila, appearing via Jefferson County jail Webex, were dressed in orange jumpsuits and blue medical face masks. Neither of them spoke at the hearing. Marquez will be held without bond and Avila is being held on $100,000 cash bond.
Jefferson County Sheriffs allege Marquez drove a white Chevy Silverado pickup into dozens of people, then fled the scene. He is facing six charges including first degree murder, vehicular homicide, a parole violation and violation of a protective order.
Marquez has been in trouble before. Just three weeks ago, he was released from jail on enhanced supervision probation, court records show. He's got multiple arrests dating back to 2009 on drug possession with intent to distribute, weapons violations and car thefts and been sentenced to prison at least twice in that time.
Avila, who Jefferson County Sheriffs said owned the vehicle and was in the passenger seat, is facing five charges including first degree murder, vehicular homicide and leaving the scene of an accident. During the hearing, Avila’s family took up the entire front row of seats as he listened to the proceedings.
His attorney argued that because Avila wasn’t driving that night, he had “limited involvement” in the incident and that his bond was too high. Sheriffs deputies asked Avila how drunk he was, and he answered that on a scale of 0-10 for being drunk, he was a 7 and told them that alcohol makes him black out, the affidavit said.
The deceased man was identified as 46-year-old Adrian Ponce. Michael Gause, 45, is in critical condition with a broken back and pelvis and head injuries at St. Anthony's Medical Center but expected to survive.
At least three others are in the hospital with head and back injuries according to the warrant.
Marquez and Avila were ordered not to contact witnesses.
Their next court date is Friday, Oct. 14.
The Rock Rest Lodge remained closed Monday.
