A 17-year old girl, a 15-year old boy, and a 16-year old boy were charged today with possession and consumption of alcohol following the death last October of a friend who was hit by an ambulance near Gypsum.

Joseph Creek, 16, who was a sophomore at Red Canyon High School, died of severe head injuries after being struck by the front right fender of the ambulance when he wandered into the roadway.

The ambulance, which was not on a run at the time, stopped, and the crew tried to save the teenager.

The Eagle County Sheriff's Office asked the Colorado Department of Revenue Liquor Enforcement Division to look into how the teens obtained the alcohol they consumed that night. Creek's blood alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit for driving.

The youths said an adult purchased vodka for them from a liquor store. They then drank it at a home in Gypsum.

Three of the teens, all Gypsum residents, said they lost track of Creek and assumed he got a ride home to Eagle on a bus. They learned the next day that their friend had been struck and killed while walking in the roadway.

The liquor store was investigated, but no criminal charges were filed because the owner didn't know the alcohol purchased by the adult was for someone underage.