Court and police records describe earlier traffic cases involving Cesario Serrato before the June collision in downtown Denver.
DENVER, Co. — A man accused of driving with a revoked license when his BMW struck three women in a downtown crosswalk has been charged with felony vehicular assault and two misdemeanor assault counts, according to court reporting and Denver custody records.
Cesario Serrato, 56, was being held on a $50,000 cash-only bond in case number 26CR02869 after the June 14 crash near Larimer and 20th streets. The city’s inmate record lists allegations of vehicular assault, vehicular assault involving driving under the influence and two third-degree assault counts. Local reporting said prosecutors filed one felony vehicular-assault charge and two misdemeanor assault charges on June 18. The charges are accusations, and Serrato has not been found guilty.
The case has drawn added scrutiny because the police probable cause statement says Serrato’s license was revoked at the time of the collision. Public records reviewed by Denver7 describe earlier traffic cases, including two within the past decade that began with DUI allegations. Those prior cases do not establish guilt in the current prosecution, but they provide context for questions about why Serrato was allegedly driving despite a license restriction.
The earlier record includes a 2018 Denver DUI case that was resolved in 2020. According to Denver7’s review, prosecutors dismissed the DUI charge in exchange for Serrato’s guilty plea to reckless driving. He received one year of supervised probation. The publicly reported information does not explain all the evidence, negotiations or legal considerations behind that plea agreement. In 2021, Serrato faced another initial DUI charge in Aurora. He pleaded guilty to driving while ability impaired, commonly known as DWAI, a lesser alcohol-related driving offense under Colorado law. A former prosecutor interviewed by Denver7 said the overall history appeared to show an escalation in alleged driving offenses, though that assessment was commentary rather than a finding by the court handling the new case.
More recent citations were filed only months before the downtown crash. Glendale police ticketed Serrato in February 2026 for driving under restraint, failing to display proof of insurance and possessing marijuana in an open container in a vehicle, according to the records review. Denver County Court also listed driving-under-restraint, insurance and red-light matters in February and March.
A driving-under-restraint citation generally alleges that a person operated a vehicle while the person’s license or driving privilege was suspended or revoked. The available reporting does not identify the complete administrative history behind Serrato’s license status. It also does not establish how each 2026 citation was resolved before the June collision. Those distinctions matter because charges, guilty pleas, dismissals and unresolved cases carry different legal weight.
The current prosecution arises from a far more serious set of injuries. Police allege Serrato drove a silver 2015 BMW 650 out of a parking lot at 2000 Larimer St. shortly before 2:30 a.m. He traveled southwest, entered the intersection against a red light and struck three women who were crossing 20th Street with the right of way, according to the probable cause statement.
The women were between 19 and 24 years old. Police said two were thrown by the impact. A third, 21-year-old Izabella Gomez, was pulled beneath the passenger side and dragged for about half a block. The BMW stopped behind other traffic at the next signal. Officers and bystanders then lifted the vehicle so emergency responders could reach her.
All three women were transported to a hospital. Initial police records said two suffered internal injuries but withheld many details. Gomez’s family later described a much broader list of injuries, including broken ribs, damage to her spleen and liver, fractures on both sides of her pelvis and severe burns along the right side of her body.
Gomez remained hospitalized in early July. Her mother, Lea Lopez, said doctors expected to wait several weeks before deciding whether she could transfer to rehabilitation. The family anticipated that Gomez would return to the hospital for continuing burn care and surgeries even after a rehabilitation stay. Updated conditions for the other two women have not been widely released. Police allegations about impairment are based in part on observations made after Serrato was stopped. The probable cause statement says officers saw bloodshot and watery eyes, heard slurred speech, noticed difficulty following instructions and detected a strong odor of alcohol. Police described his apparent level of intoxication as extreme and took him to a hospital before booking him into jail.
No specific blood-alcohol measurement has been made public in the reports reviewed for this article. The absence of a publicly reported result does not establish whether testing occurred or what it showed. Any chemical-test evidence, if available and admitted, would be evaluated along with officer observations, witness testimony and other records during the prosecution.
Investigators also said the BMW displayed an expired temporary license tag. That allegation is separate from the more serious counts involving the injured pedestrians. Prosecutors will have to prove the elements of each filed offense, including the conduct and mental state required by law, rather than relying simply on the existence of Serrato’s prior record.
Prior convictions and citations can face strict limits at trial because courts seek to prevent jurors from treating a person’s past as automatic proof of a new accusation. Whether any earlier case may be introduced depends on the purpose for which prosecutors offer it, the defense’s objections and the judge’s rulings. Public discussion of Serrato’s history therefore should not be confused with evidence that a jury will necessarily hear.
The sequence after the impact was described by witness Xavier Thomas. He said the BMW passed him closely, ran over his foot and made contact with him before it struck the women. Thomas chased it and heard people shouting that a woman was underneath once the vehicle stopped. He joined officers and others who raised the passenger side to free Gomez. Thomas said the car appeared to stop because vehicles ahead were waiting at the next light. His account is consistent with the probable cause statement’s allegation that Gomez was dragged about half a block, but witness testimony remains subject to questioning and comparison with video or physical evidence.
Because the crash occurred as downtown bars were closing, many people were nearby. Video of the aftermath spread online and showed a group surrounding the BMW. Police said officers had already been assigned to the area to manage late-night crowds, allowing them to reach the stopped car quickly and assist in lifting it.
The central question in the criminal case is not whether Serrato had earlier traffic problems, but whether prosecutors can prove the June charges beyond a reasonable doubt. That process may include review of street-camera footage, vehicle data, traffic-signal records, hospital documentation, witness statements and evidence collected following the arrest. The defense also may examine whether police followed proper procedures, whether observations of impairment were reliable and whether the evidence supports the specific level of each charge. Serrato has a right to counsel, to challenge the government’s case and to remain silent. No publicly available report reviewed for this article identified a plea or a final trial date.
The three injured women have a separate interest in the proceedings. Medical records could help establish the seriousness of the injuries, while victim-impact information may become relevant at later stages if the case results in a conviction. Gomez’s family has emphasized that her recovery will extend well beyond the criminal case’s early hearings.
Denver police reported that DUI-related crashes were down 15% compared with the same period a year earlier. The department nevertheless called impaired driving preventable and pointed to the long-term harm that one collision can cause. That statement describes the department’s broader safety position and is not a substitute for the evidence required against Serrato.
City custody information continued to list Serrato under the active case and $50,000 bond when the record was most recently available. The outcome of any hearing after the date shown in the public listing could not be independently confirmed from the accessible sources. Gomez’s family, meanwhile, said she remained focused on treatment, with rehabilitation and additional surgery still ahead.
Author note: Last updated July 17, 2026.