DENVER — An Aurora man who says he was hit by an alleged drunk driver on Friday night reached out to Denver7 saying the driver was neither questioned or apprehended by police.
Nestor Guillen said he was driving home from his work shift at 3 a.m. on Saturday morning when another driver swerved and hit him. He said after both got out of their cars, the driver of the other car started disposing of beer bottles and cans.
"I just hear like the bottles. They make a certain sound when when they're clanging together," he said. "It shocked me."
But he said after several calls to 911 and the station's non-emergency line, he was told that his call was not a priority and that an officer would be free once they became available.
"In my mind, I'm thinking this is a criminal case," Guillen said. "They just kept telling me, I basically wasn't a priority. And I have this in front of me all going down."
In a statement to Denver7, a spokesperson for the Aurora Police Department said the delay was a consequence of high demand for police that evening.
"Due to call volume and other higher priority calls, officers were not dispatched until 5:30 a.m.," the statement reads. "Additionally, paramedics responded to the scene. None of them reported back to dispatch that they smelled alcohol, as that information would have been documented in the call notes."
Guillen said he made dispatchers aware alcohol was a potential factor in the crash. He also shared photos with Denver7 that show beer cans and bottles in and around the crashed car belonging to the other driver.
"You guys do not do a full inspection," Guillen said of the EMTs on scene. "They got back in their fire trucks and left."
Guillen hopes APD will investigate the scene further and make potential DUI crashes a higher priority for police.
"The dude is free right now. He could be doing the same thing tonight," said Guillen. "I'm shocked to this day — that all that took place. And they didn't really help me out."
