Blair Jackson, 48, is accused of one count of vehicular homicide
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Weld County prosecutors have filed formal charges against an Ault police office accused in an off-duty fatal crash that witnesses described as “road rage.”
Blair Jackson, 48, is accused of one count of vehicular homicide — a Class 4 felony — in the wreck that killed 39-year-old Esteban Moreno Jr., court records show.
Authorities say Jackson and Moreno were traveling southbound on U.S. 85 at speeds of more than 80 mph before colliding in Platteville last month. Moreno lost control, according to prosecutors, and crashed.
He was pronounced dead at the scene of the June 1 wreck.
“One witness described the vehicles as ‘playing leap-frog’ and tailgating each other,” according to an arrest affidavit for Jackson.
The affidavit says a witness reported that Jackson “purposefully struck Moreno’s vehicle side to side” and “Jackson pulled in front of Moreno and cut him off, causing his truck to lose control and crash.”
However, when asked to give his account of what happened, Jackson said “Moreno tried to run him off the roadway,” and that Moreno purposefully struck his vehicle, causing Moreno to lose control and crash.
Jackson had just ended a shift at the police department when the crash happened, according to Rich Strang, chief of Ault police. Strang says Jackson remains on unpaid administrative leave.
Jackson was first taken into custody for investigation of second-degree murder and reckless driving. He is next due in court Aug. 22, and is free after posting $25,000 bail.
Jackson began working at the Ault Police Department in December 2015. Before that, he was a contract security guard for the Regional Transportation District.
Jackson previously had been cited twice on suspicion of careless driving, court records show.
Most recently, records show he was issued a summons Jan. 26 in Arapahoe County for careless driving causing injury. The citation was dropped March 28, and Jackson pleaded guilty to a charge of having an unsafe or defective vehicle.
Jackson also was cited for careless driving in September 1998 in Larimer County, according to court records. That charge was dismissed in June 1999.
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