{"id":102014,"date":"2018-01-04T13:22:24","date_gmt":"2018-01-04T20:22:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/driver-in-fatal-crash-near-pagosa-springs-tests-above-limit-for-marijuana\/"},"modified":"2018-01-04T13:22:24","modified_gmt":"2018-01-04T20:22:24","slug":"driver-in-fatal-crash-near-pagosa-springs-tests-above-limit-for-marijuana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/driver-in-fatal-crash-near-pagosa-springs-tests-above-limit-for-marijuana\/","title":{"rendered":"Driver in fatal crash near Pagosa Springs tests above limit for marijuana"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/p>

A driver who died last month after causing a three-vehicle crash just west of Pagosa Springs tested nearly double the legal driving limit for THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, authorities said Thursday.<\/p>\n

Around 10:30 a.m. Dec. 14, Loveland resident Neil Caryl, 27, lost control of a 2006 Dodge Ram 2500 and crossed the center line while headed west on U.S. Highway 160 near mile marker 137.<\/p>\n

Mile marker 137 is about seven miles west of Pagosa Springs.<\/p>\n

Caryl hit an oncoming 2004 Toyota Rav4, driven by Leslie Kron, 69, of Pagosa Springs. Caryl\u2019s vehicle then spun and collided with another oncoming vehicle, a 2008 Ford F-250, driven by 57-year-old Kellie Lewis.<\/p>\n

Caryl died as a result of his injuries. His two passengers \u2013 TaLor Estrada, 24, of Arvada and a 1-year-old boy \u2013 were taken to Pagosa Springs Medical Center and later airlifted to a Denver hospital.<\/p>\n

Kron and Lewis were also taken to Pagosa Springs Medical Center with serious injuries.<\/p>\n

At the time of the crash, authorities did not believe drugs or alcohol were a factor because no physical evidence of illegal substances was found at the crash site.<\/p>\n

But a toxicology test found Caryl tested above the presumptive limit for THC levels while driving in the state of Colorado.<\/p>\n

While the limit is considered 5 nanograms per milliliter of blood, Caryl tested at 9.2 nanograms per milliliter, said Colorado State Patrol Capt. Adrian Driscoll.<\/p>\n

Authorities now believe Caryl\u2019s use of marijuana is the \u201cmost apparent human contributing factor\u201d in the crash, according to an accident report.<\/p>\n

While road conditions were icy and dangerous, Driscoll said Caryl exceeded a safe speed limit, which is different than speeding. Caryl was traveling 60 mph in a 65 mph zone in inclement conditions.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was going way too fast,\u201d Driscoll said.<\/p>\n

According to a GoFundMe page, Caryl and Estrada were traveling with their son from Colorado to New Mexico when the crash occurred.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur precious little baby is suffering from a broken arm, femur, clavicle and concussion,\u201d the page says. \u201cMy sister (Estrada) has a large laceration to her liver, broken ribs, clavicle, arm, pelvis and five lumbar fractures.\u201d<\/p>\n

Attempts to reach the family were unsuccessful Thursday.<\/p>\n

Jess Lewis, wife of Kellie Lewis, said Kellie Lewis suffered a cracked sternum, three broken ribs, a collapsed lung and a concussion. The couple recently moved to Pagosa Springs where Kellie Lewis is recovering.<\/p>\n

\u201cHer injuries were pretty serious,\u201d Jess Lewis said. \u201cIt was very, very scary. But she\u2019s alive, and we\u2019re all thrilled she made it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Attempts to reach Kron were not successful Thursday.<\/p>\n

Everyone involved in the crash was wearing a seat belt, according to the accident report.<\/p>\n

jromeo@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

month\u2019s accident left one dead, four injured<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":102015,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5736,5735],"tags":[168,254],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-102014","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","category-news","tag-crime","tag-road-crash"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102014"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102014\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102014"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=102014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}