A former chair of the El Paso County Republican Party has settled in a wrongful-death lawsuit filed by the widow of a man he struck and killed in a vehicle-pedestrian crash, the Associated Press reports. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed.
Dianna Tolbert, wife of Mel Tolbert, filed the suit in January — about nine months after the 4th Judicial District Attorney's office dismissed careless driving charges against then-party chair Trevor Dierdorff for hitting her husband, who was crossing the street while Dierdorff was trying to park his vehicle in downtown Colorado Springs. The lawsuit alleged Dierdorff drove "negligently and carelessly" in reverse gear "at a dangerous speed and without looking or checking his side or rear view mirrors" before striking Mel Tolbert on March 28, 2017. (Dierdorff resigned as party chair in September of last year.)