Challenger was fast enough to outrun the officers but the driver failed to handle a sharp turn and crashed violently.
The Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat is one of the quickest, fastest and most powerful production cars in the world, but the supercharged Mopar muscle car is only as good as the person at the wheel. According to The Drivea Hellcat driver in Colorado allowed his ambitions outpace his abilities earlier this month, causing him to lose control of the Challenger. The result was a series of barrel rolls into oncoming traffic that left the car destroyed and the driver in the custody of police.
Snitches in Action
Around 8:15 p.m. on Tuesday, May 5, the Colorado State Patrol received a handful of calls reporting a Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat being driven at a high rate of speed on Interstate 70. The people calling in to complain about the spirited driving stated that the car was headed westbound around mile marker 213, but not surprisingly, when the police arrived, there was no sign of the car.
A short time later, more calls came in, reporting the same car and the same high speed driving further down the road and as troopers searched I-70, the car was eventually spotted around mile marker 160. An officer gave chase, but as the Hellcat Challenger took off, with speeds reportedly topping 130 miles per hour, the chase was called off.
At that point, the Hellcat driver may have been able to disappear into the night, but he continued driving hard and when he reached a sweeping right turn around mile marker 157. He was going too fast and went off the road into the median, barrel-rolling into oncoming traffic.
The Aftermath
When police arrived on the scene of the violent crash, they pulled 31-year-old Rafael Cotlear from the mangled muscle car. Fortunately, the reports of this accident didn’t involve any innocent bystanders, so it seems that only the hard-charging Hellcat Challenger was damaged in the crash.
After being checked out and cleared at the hospital, Cotlear was arrested for a long list of offenses relating to his driving, his lack of proper insurance and accusations that he was under the influence of drugs. As you can see in the image here from the Colorado State Patrol, the Hellcat Challenger is completely destroyed, but it held up the impact and protected the foolish driver from serious injuries.
"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.
"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.
"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.
"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.
"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.
