A Colorado woman was arrested Thursday in eastern Arkansas after she allegedly fled the state in January.
Sidney Whitmarsh, 24, is charged with three felonies including vehicular homicide. The Colorado State Patrol has accused Whitmarsh of leaving the scene of a fatal accident after she allegedly hit a bicyclist with her car.
Mario Romero, 43, was killed in the Jan. 7 collision. His body was not discovered for two days, according to CSP. Plus, his bicycle was missing from the scene.
Sincere thank you to all who contributed to our friend, Mario who was killed in a hit and run accident almost two weeks…
Posted by Drunken Goat – Edwards, CO on Friday, January 19, 2024
CSP’s arrest affidavit, a legal document detailing the investigation’s findings in hopes of receiving a judge’s approval for Whitmarsh’s arrest, does not provide details about the missing bicycle. A CSP spokesperson said Friday the agency was not releasing information at this time about the bicycle.
However, the state patrol, in a Jan. 10 press release, did publicly assume the bicycle had been taken from the scene.
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Romero’s body was found 20 feet down an embankment.
Later, CSP investigators, according to the affidavit, were able to see Romero riding a bike past a gas station at 1:18 a.m., Jan. 7, on the business’s recorded surveillance video.
That same video showed a white car with “something on its roof” travelling in the same direction on Highway 6 one minute later.
A fog lamp was found at the scene by investigators, according to the affidavit. The part number on it matched a 2010-2012 Subaru Legacy Outback.
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Within days of the incident, investigators began receiving information from friends and co-workers of Whitmarsh. Those people confirmed Whitmarsh drove a white Subaru Outback with rooftop storage bin. One co-worker came forward and said Whitmarsh had been covering the co-worker’s shift at an Edwards deli the night of the collision, but then abruptly quit her job and left.
That same co-worker told investigators that Whitmarsh texted her later that day and stated she “really messed up” and may have to leave the area.
That same day, investigators executed a search warrant at Whitmarsh’s apartment. Some of Whitmarsh’s friends and co-workers lived in the same apartment complex as Whitmarsh, per the affidavit, and reported not seeing her car. Investigators found it in a garage with damage to its passenger-side windshield “consistent with striking a pedestrian.” Other car parts were inside the car.
Eventually, CSP investigators learned of Whitmarsh’s location in Arkansas when an anonymous friend of Whitmarsh called and told them that Whitmarsh admitted to being drunk at the time of the incident. That friend also said their phone tracked Whitmarsh’s phone to Arkansas.
An officer with the Clarendon (Ark.) Police Department said “I picked her up myself” at a “little restaurant” 20 minutes after CSP called his agency about her pinged location in nearby Holly Grove.
The 5th Judicial District Attorney’s Office will begin prosecuting Whitmarsh’s case once she is extradited back to Colorado.
