Back in June, Dougherty's office charged a seventeen-year-old driver (she's not being named because of her age) with two counts of vehicular homicide as well as vehicular assault, driving under the influence, driving with excessive alcohol content, driving on the wrong side of a divided highway and possessing alcohol as a minor in connection with an April 9 crash that killed Gregoria Morales Ramirez and her Lyft driver, Ori Tsioni, and seriously injured Diana Spencer, who was in another vehicle. The incident took place on the evening of Boulder High School's prom.
Then, on September 7, Dougherty unveiled nine indictments aimed at parents who allegedly allowed the teenage driver and assorted others shy of drinking age to guzzle booze at pre-prom parties, along with a party-bus driver who let passengers not old enough to legally consume potent potables to do so, two companies that manufacture fake IDs, and a liquor store that's said to have regularly sold to juveniles.
The probable-cause statement included with the indictments is so detailed that it includes a "Legend of Key Persons and Entities" to help readers keep track of who's who. Among the principals detailed in the documents are:
• "IDGod" and "OldIronSidesFakes," described as websites that "sell fake identification cards to underage persons. They allow group orders. Many of the underaged persons involved in this case had group-ordered fake IDs from these websites and used the fake IDs to illegally purchase alcohol on many occasions."After summarizing the crash, which took place on Highway 157 at around 11:22 p.m. on April 9, the probable-cause statement notes that "investigators attempted to speak with numerous adult and minor witnesses. Many of these witnesses refused to speak with investigators about the circumstances leading to the fatal crash."
• Royal Mart, Inc., DBA "Willow Springs Wines & Spirits," a store that "is located 2.2 miles from Boulder High School and is known to sell underage persons alcohol. This store sold alcohol to underage persons numerous times. Sometimes they checked IDs, sometimes not. The store sold alcohol to [censored] and other students at Boulder High School the day before prom. The alcohol was provided to others at her pre-prom party on April 9, 2022."
• Elise Miller, "the mother of [censored]. She hosted a pre-prom party on April 9, 2022, where underage persons brought and were provided alcohol."
• Mike Johnson, "the driver of the party bus that picked up prom-goers from the Miller residence and dropped them off at prom. He did not follow company policies and allowed underage persons to carry alcohol onto the bus and then drink it. Students from this bus were later taken to an area at the prom designated for intoxicated students called 'the drunk tank.'"
• Charlene and Todd Hoffman, "the parents of [censored]. Like Elise Miller, Charlene and Todd Hoffman hosted a pre-prom party on April 9, 2022, where underage persons brought and were provided alcohol, including [censored]."
• Pam and Mark Sunderland, "the parents of [censored]. Pam and Mark Sunderland hosted a pre-prom party on April 9, 2022, where underage persons brought and were provided alcohol. Some of the alcohol that was provided was from previous parties in which underage persons were allowed to drink with the knowledge and permission of Pam and Mark Sunderland."
Nonetheless, detectives were able to piece together a timeline in which the driver and a friend started their evening at a pre-prom bash hosted by Miller, with refreshments from Willow Springs that included "cans of White Claw alcoholic beverages." The indictment contends that alcohol available in a shared room downstairs was consumed in red Solo cups, and other liquor was accessible on the patio of the home. "At least one minor can be seen in a pre-prom photo walking outside carrying a White Claw alcoholic beverage in plain view of adults and other underage persons at the party," the document continues. And while it is unclear whether the driver consumed any intoxicants at the bash, she told an unnamed friend "that she had a bottle of Tito's Vodka — which was one of the alcoholic beverages that [censored] had purchased from Willow Springs Wines & Spirits the day before," apparently using Miller's credit card.
Shortly thereafter, the indictment continues, Johnson arrived with the party bus and transported a large number of teens to the Church Ranch Event Center, where the prom was taking place. Staffers at the center are quoted as saying that two of the students attempting to disembark from the vehicle "were so drunk that they fell straight onto the pavement." They also "smelled alcohol, observed several students chugging bottles, and saw students attempting to hide or toss the alcohol containers." Afterward, personnel said Johnson told them it had been a "rough night" and that there was "a lot of alcohol on the bus."
Rather than joining their pals on the bus, the indictment points out, the teen driver and her friend chose a different destination: a pre-prom party hosted by the Hoffmans, where the kitchen, living room and yard had been set aside for guests. "Although the Hoffmans had attached a sign to the mini-fridge stating 'for adults only,' this was neither monitored nor actively enforced," the document notes. "[Censored] told her friends to bring their own alcohol to the party. Several friends brought significant quantities of alcohol, including beer, hard seltzer, White Claws, vodka and a bucket full of Fireball shooters." When the driver and her friend arrived, Charlene Hoffman allegedly led them to the garage, saying, "Come here, come here." Inside, "some of the kids were counting down '3, 2, 1' and then taking shots" of Fireball. The driver was seen swilling from her bottle of vodka.
The teens at the Hoffman home eventually took a second party bus to the prom (no indictments were leveled against this firm, although passengers are said to have brought alcohol along with them). An hour and a half later, the bus transported the teens to the Sunderland home, where the drinking continued — not just alcohol the teens had brought with them, but also beer that was provided by the owners, according to the probable-cause statement.
The indictments against the parents include misdemeanors such as contributing to the delinquency of a minor and providing alcohol to an underage person; the last charge has also been leveled against Willow Springs. The websites, meanwhile, face forgery beefs.
In a release about the indictments, Dougherty offers thanks to the Boulder Valley School District for its cooperation in the probe — and the district offered a statement of its own. It reads:
Today, we learned of charges being brought by the Boulder County District Attorneys’ Office against businesses and individuals in our community associated with the use of alcohol and impaired driving that resulted in an April 2022 double fatal crash.Click to read the indictments for Mark Sunderland, IDGod, Royal Mart, Elise Miller, Mike Johnson, Charlene Hoffman, Todd Hoffman, Pam Sunderland and OldIronSidesFakes.
This was an incredibly tragic situation that took the lives of two innocent people. It also has, sadly, changed the trajectory of the lives of the young people involved, including the former BVSD student who was charged earlier for vehicular homicide and driving under the influence.
It is also a situation that brings into stark relief a serious issue in our community – underage drinking and drug use.
For many years, our high school principals and staff have been talking about the dangers of alcohol, drug use and, specifically, party buses to parents and students alike.
We remind parents that the brains of high school-aged children are not fully developed, and work to educate our youth that the introduction of alcohol and drugs often leads to bad outcomes.
Boulder Valley School District has taken steps, within its authority, to address this community issue. Typically at our high schools, the protocol is to pull aside students who smell like alcohol or appear to be impaired, contact parents, and establish a safe and appropriate way for the student to get home. Students who are found to have engaged in serious misconduct are subject to school disciplinary action, including possible suspension. Often law enforcement is present at dances and large events and assist in managing students who appear to have been using alcohol or drugs.
We are dedicated to continuing to review and improve our policies and practices in this area. We are also aware that more forceful measures may have unintended consequences. For instance, we are aware that the measures we have already taken (including those mentioned above) have resulted in some students choosing not to attend the school event, something that is worrisome to us. In fact, we have heard of cases in which students have stayed at house parties and/or ridden around on party buses for the full evening.
We fully support District Attorney Michael Dougherty and the DA Office’s efforts to get to the bottom of this situation. It’s time for us to come together as a community in light of these findings to do better, to unite to keep our students safe and better understand the dangers of drug and alcohol use by our youth.
