A man who ran a red light and crashed into another vehicle, killing a 45-year-old Evans woman, told police he was disoriented while driving due to numbing medication from getting a tooth pulled.
Cody Riley, 28, said he couldn’t perceive things correctly and knew he shouldn’t have been driving while on the medication, according to an affidavit for his arrest. He told police he was also taking anxiety medication that warned him not to operate a motor vehicle, but that he didn’t believe the Alprazolam affected his ability to drive.
He faces charges of driving under the influence causing vehicular homicide, DUI causing vehicular assault and vehicular eluding leading to death, as well as a pair of misdemeanor charges and a slew of traffic violations, according to Colorado court records.
About 6 p.m. Jan. 3, police were made aware of the original hit-and-run crash, and that the victim was following Riley as he tried to flee, according to the affidavit
Shortly after, an officer located Riley — who was driving a silver SUV with heavy damage to the driver’s side — running a red light while turning south onto 23rd Avenue from 32nd Street, according to the affidavit. Police say Riley drove onto the sidewalk on the southwest corner of the intersection while making the turn.
Once traffic cleared, the officer turned on his lights and siren and tried to catch up to Riley, who police say was traveling at a high rate of speed and weaving in and out of traffic.
As the officer approached the 3400 block of 23rd Avenue, he saw Riley run a red light at 37th Street and crash into another vehicle in the intersection, according to the affidavit. Police ordered Riley out of his vehicle at gunpoint and detained him while other officers provided medical care to the victims in the other vehicle
Both people in that vehicle were taken to a hospital to be treated for serious injuries, where the driver — 45-year-old Aubrey Pitts of Evans — was later pronounced dead. As of Wednesday morning, police could not give an update on the passenger — Pitts’ 58-year-old husband, Walt.
As of Wednesday afternoon, a GoFundMe set up to honor Aubrey and support Walt’s recovery had raised $66,335 of its $80,000 goal. To donate, go to gofund.me/031c4160.
Once in custody, Riley told police that he had just had a tooth pulled and that he knew he shouldn’t have been driving.
“I was kind of just disoriented coming out of the building and I knew I shouldn’t have drove … home,” he said, according to the affidavit.
He said he was trying to merge onto the 3000 block U.S. 85 when “he was clipped” by the other vehicle, according to the affidavit. He said he pulled forward and the victim began chasing him.
Police later contacted a witness who had dashboard camera footage of the crash. The footage showed Riley merging onto southbound U.S. 85 and hitting the passenger side of the victim’s vehicle, according to the affidavit.
Riley originally pulled over and was talking to the victim, trying to blame the victim for the crash, police heard on the footage, before he quickly got back in his vehicle and drove away.
When police asked if he had taken any painkillers, Riley told them it was just the normal numbing medication, according to the affidavit. Every time he is given the numbing medication from the dentist he feels super disoriented, Riley told police.
He had been taking Alprazolam — typically known by the name brand Xanax — every day for the past seven years, he said, and he felt it didn’t affect his driving abilities. When police told him the medication had a label that said a person taking it shouldn’t be driving, Riley just said, “Yeah, that’s what they all say,” according to records.
Riley told police he didn’t see police lights or hear sirens, but that he wished he would have because he would have stopped. When asked why he was weaving in and out of traffic, he again told police that he was scared because the victim was following him.
Riley said he did see the vehicle he hit when he was approaching the intersection, but believed a flat tire on his vehicle stopped him from slowing down effectively, according to the affidavit.
Court records indicate Riley has previously pleaded guilty to driving offenses as well as violent criminal charges. In 2016, he pleaded guilty to driving without a license, followed by a guilty plea to a third-degree assault charge in 2017 and plea agreements he reached in two 2019 cases against him for driving under restraint. In 2021, he pleaded guilty to attempted false imprisonment.
Riley, whose bond was set at $30,000, remains in jail. He has a disposition hearing scheduled for 9:30 a.m. March 10 in Weld District Court.
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