Colorado representative and darling of the Donald Trump MAGA crowd Lauren Boebert has been accused of covering up details about her son's car crash in September, which left a friend with serious injuries.
The outspoken Republican's eldest son, Tyler, was issued a ticket for "careless driving causing bodily injury" on September 17, 2022. It was issued in connection to a late-night crash, in which he flipped his dad's SUV into a creek bed in Garfield County.
Now, an allegation has been made by 19-year-old friend Noble D'Amato, who was in the car at the time of the accident. He wound up hospitalised, reportedly with multiple concussions and a severely lacerated hand.
He told Westword: "I still have problems with my hand. My thumb almost got cut off.
"It prevented me from getting a welding job, because I can't hold a TIG torch anymore. I'm a personal-care provider now."
As a result of the crash, which happened at around 11.30pm on a Saturday night, Mr D'Amato was charged with unlawful possession of a schedule IV controlled substance after he was found carrying unprescribed Xanax tablets.
He was also reportedly handed a drug paraphernalia charge after officers said they found a "silver marijuana grinder" with small amounts of marijuana.
Local prosecutors in Glenwood Springs dropped Tyle's case down to a "defective vehicle for headlights" ticket after accepting a plea deal, according to Garfield County Court Clerk's Office.
He was ordered to complete driving school through Colorado's 'Alive at 25' program, and a mandatory review, scheduled for April 10, to ensure he had completed the course.
But, according to Mr D'Amato, Tyler and the Boebert family have not yet taken any real responsibility for the accident.
A statement from Boebert's office on April 4, sent to Westword, called the injury "superficial at best". D'Amato referred to the statement as "b******t".
Boebert has her own list of charges on her record, including one for careless driving and operating an unsafe vehicle after she rolled her truck into a ditch in 2016.
According to Mr D'Amato, the pair were on their way to a "little party thing" when the car left the road. A diagram from the crash report shows how the car flipped completely, leaving Tyler and Mr D'Amato upside down in the vehicle which had landed in Cattle Creek.
Mr D'Amato has said Tyler was "stone cold sober" at the time.
"And he still f*****g flipped us," he said. "That shows you how much he just doesn't care. He was driving so f*****g fast."
Investigators said Tyler "failed to negotiate a left-hand curve in the roadway and traveled off of the right side of the roadway" before eventually "entering into a creek bed" and overturning "half of a rotation".
D'Amato continued: "I remembered waking up with blood pouring out of my hand. I had put my hands in the air to protect myself and got messed up really bad by the window or something. I was just glad to be alive."
Mr D'Amato admitted to taking Xanax earlier in the evening. However, he insisted Tyler wasn't on anything when the accident occured, and only his ego led to Tyler's downfall.
"It's the fame," D'Amato told Westword. "He doesn't give a f**k."
He said he has no plans to take legal action against the Boeberts, but warned Tyler should "watch what the f**k he's doing".
He explained he had drifted apart from Tyler, with the pair becoming more "acquaintances" than friends.
"I had a conversation with him recently," Mr D'Amato said. "There's no hard feelings; he didn't mean to do me wrong.
"Of course, it did affect me and probably will for the rest of my life. But he didn't mean to. He should really watch what the f**k he's doing, though."
He went on to say: "Just because he's Lauren Boebert's kid doesn't mean he's a god."
Reflecting on what happened, Mr D'Amato said he wanted to forget about the "cover-up" and circumstances surrounding what happened that night.
Instead, he's reportedly stopped taking drugs and is working to become a better role model for peers and younger friends.
He explained: "I was a bad influence on the young ones. Now I'm working to get all my friends clean, because there's a lot of kids around here trying to feel OK or fit in.
"Tyler is a good kid. I certainly wish that he and the family could take responsibility for what he did, because I know he didn't mean to do it.
"It was an accident. But the fact they're downplaying it like this is something else.
"Superficial injuries? I got multiple concussions. My thumb was almost cut off. I couldn't hold a torch. It prevented me from getting a welding job.
"So, yeah, harm was definitely done. But like I said, it it were up to [Tyler] fully - and he didn't have his mum affecting his mind so aggressively - he'd take responsibility and not act like it wasn't a big deal.
"But he's the son of Lauren Boebert. If I did what he did, I'd still be in jail."
Ms Boebert’s office told The Independent that the crash “involved two minors”.
They said “the injury reported was superficial at best and was addressed by medical professionals out of caution.”
