(March 6, 2025) – The Aurora Police Department Traffic Investigation Unit announced Thursday an arrest has been made in connection with a fatal hit-and-run crash that occurred in October in northwest Aurora.
Brian Vondersmith, 37, of Arvada, was arrested Tuesday and booked into the Arapahoe County Jail on one charge each of vehicular homicide, reckless manslaughter, first-degree assault and leaving the scene of an accident involving death, all felonies.
The charges stem from 11:59 p.m. Oct. 20, 2024, when Aurora police patrol officers responded to a report of a hit-and-run crash involving a pickup and a motorcycle on northbound Interstate 225 near 6th Avenue. Responding officers located the motorcycle rider, later identified by the Arapahoe County Coroner’s Office as 38-year-old Aurora resident Matthew Bouchard, who died at the scene before the arrival of first responders.
Witnesses told officers a Yamaha motorcycle appeared to be racing a Dodge pickup when the driver of the Dodge sideswiped the motorcycle rider, sending him into a guardrail. The suspect vehicle was located abandoned a short time after the crash in a vacant parking lot near the intersection of East 38th Avenue and Sable Boulevard.
During the investigation, traffic detectives developed information Vondersmith was driving the Dodge pickup at the time of the fatal crash. He was arrested Tuesday at the Adams County Courthouse in Brighton, where he was scheduled to appear for a hearing in district court in an unrelated theft case.
The investigation remains active and ongoing. Anyone with any information is asked to contact Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720.913.STOP (7867). Tipsters can remain anonymous and could be eligible for a reward of up to $2,000.
Joe Moylan
Public Information Officer
720.432.5095
AP24-211446