ARREST IN HIT-AND-RUN DEATH

Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Oct 17, 2007 by KIM NGUYEN

Jeannie L. Rhoades would be in less trouble if she had just stayed put.

Instead, according to police, the 43-year-old fled the scene of a fatal collision Monday evening that involved the 1989 Pontiac sedan she was driving and a man riding his bicycle in northern Colorado Springs.

Rhoades was arrested Tuesday afternoon on suspicion of felony hit- and-run and careless driving resulting in death. Police said Rhoades was driving eastbound about 6:10 p.m. Monday when she struck 38- yearold James Stenson, who was crossing Garden of the Gods Road at Forest Hill Road.

Stenson died at the scene.

"Fault hasn't been determined," said police detective Patricia Turechek.

"If she had just remained on the scene, things would be different."

Rhoades called police Tuesday morning to turn herself in, police said in a news release. When officers met her at a location south of Garden of the Gods Park, they saw her light blue sedan, which had what appeared to be recent damage.

Rhoades was being held on $3,000 bond at the El Paso County jail. She has had numerous run-ins with the law, including driving without insurance and without a valid license, possession of marijuana and driving while ability impaired.

"In everyone's mind, there was no reason for her to just up and leave considering what happened," said Stenson's older twin brother, Joseph Stenson.

Stenson's family was shocked to hear of the death Tuesday morning. Stenson said his younger brother, who grew up in the Denver area, hadn't spoken to the family in years.

"Considering that I've just lost a twin, and my mother has lost her youngest child, life has been turned upside down," Stenson said from his home in Aurora. "Right now everything is hitting us all at once."

Stenson said his older brothers and his mother were discussing funeral arrangements and were talking to Colorado Springs police to try to get into James Stenson's apartment to collect his belongings. They were also trying to find anyone in the Colorado Springs area that knew him.

"It's tearing me up," Joseph Stenson said. "Did he have a girlfriend that we could get ahold of? We know nothing of what's going on in Colorado Springs."

Stenson said the family wasn't sure why he moved to Colorado Springs; he thinks maybe to escape a criminal past that his younger brother was ashamed of. Court records revealed several criminal cases, including burglary and menacing, dating back to 1992 in Arapahoe, Denver and Jefferson counties.

"He alienated himself from the family; he didn't contact us," Stenson said. "We've all had our problems, but overall, he was a good kid."

CONTACT THE WRITER: 476-4813 or kim.nguyen@gazette.com

Gazette reporter Jennifer Wilson

contributed to this report.