2 killed in I-25 head-on crash

A man who sped away from a police officer on Interstate 25 died early Tuesday after causing a headon crash in which a woman and her dog were killed, Colorado Springs police reported.

The man, identified Tuesday morning as Matthew Sims, 25, of Widefield, was facing south in the northbound median south of the Cimarron Street exit when a Colorado Springs police officer approached about 12:30 a.m. The officer was headed south and was taking an inmate to the El Paso County Criminal Justice Center when he noticed the car’s taillights and observed it head the wrong way into the northbound lanes, police said.

As Sims drove his 2002 Volkswagen Jetta south in the northbound lane, the police officer pulled alongside in the southbound lanes, signaling with his lights and siren to try to get the driver’s attention, police said. But the driver accelerated and was traveling about 90 mph when he struck another vehicle, police said.

The car he smashed into was driven by Sylvia Hinklin, 64, of Cotopaxi, who was traveling north on the interstate between South Circle Drive and South Academy Boulevard in her 2002 Saturn.

The drivers of both cars died at the scene, police said. Hinklin’s dog, Chase, also died.

The crash shut down the northbound lanes of I-25 for five hours. All lanes had reopened by Tuesday morning.

Hinklin is survived by her husband of 33 years, Charles Hinklin, 73, four adult children from a previous marriage and five adult stepchildren.

Donna Walker, Hinklin’s sister who lives near Cañon City, said she didn’t know why Hinklin was driving to the Springs early Tuesday morning.

Sitting by Charles Hinklin’s side at the Progressive Care Center in Cañon City, Walker could barely answer questions about her sister. The minutiae of Hinklin’s life — even the fond memories — were hard to think of as the news of her death settled in.

“She was a very loving and kind person,” Walker said.

Hinklin was a home-health care provider in the Cotopaxi area, where she and her husband lived for much of their lives together, Walker said.

Sims, the son of local minister Terry Sims, graduated from Widefield High School in 2003.

He pleaded guilty to reckless driving in 2006 after being cited for allegedly driving 107 mph — 42 mph above the 65-mph speed limit — on March 18, 2006, in Jefferson County.

Prosecutors agreed to dismiss additional charges of speeding and lane usage violation.

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0232 or carlyn.mitchell@gazette.com