Denver man sentenced to 10 years in prison for road rage assault in Douglas County
A man from Denver has been sentenced in connection to a road rage assault in Douglas County in 2020. Alberto Mota was sentenced by Douglas County District Court Judge Ryan Stuart to 10 years in prison on Oct. 21.
Mota pleaded guilty to several charges in the 2020 incident, including vehicular assault, felony menacing, child abuse and reckless endangerment.
According to prosecutors, Colorado state troopers were dispatched to a motorcycle crash on I-25 southbound near mile marker 187 just before 2 p.m. on Aug. 16, 2020. The investigation revealed that a group of motorcycles was traveling together in the left lane when a black Ford pickup truck swerved into one of the motorcycles, causing it to crash.
Before the crash, witnesses told investigators they saw the group of motorcycles pass the pickup truck and the driver of the truck began to chase them. Another witness turned over video of the incident to investigators which showed the truck aggressively changing lanes without signaling and then ramming into one motorcyclist which pushed him into a concrete barrier. The motorcyclist suffered a broken leg, ribs and collarbone.
The driver of the truck was later identified as Mota. Prosecutors said he did not have a valid driver's license at the time of the crash. He also denied to authorities about being involved in the road rage incident but witness statements and the video led investigators to believe the assault was intentional.
"The defendant initially claimed the crash was an accident resulting from an unsafe lane change," Deputy District Attorney Keegan Doheny said in a statement. "With no regard for the safety of others, video evidence showed Mr. Mota intentionally ramming his pickup truck into a motorcyclist after swerving in and out of traffic on the interstate. There is no question in my mind that this act was no accident."
Prosecutors said Mota had multiple previous convictions for driving without a valid license dating as far back as 2001.
"Mr. Mota, who was driving with his daughter and without a valid license, lost his temper when four motorcyclists passed him on the highway," Deputy District Attorney Elizabeth Desits said in a statement. "He purposefully caught up to them and swerved his F-250 directly into one of the bikers in retaliation. He chose to endanger the lives of numerous people on the road that day because of his anger. Thankfully, with the dash camera capturing his actions on video, his attempt to blame the biker for the crash was not successful."
The Colorado State Patrol urges drivers who witness a road rage incident or public highway to report it to Colorado State Patrol by dialing *CSP or *277.