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KEARNS — A 19-year-old motorcyclist died Sunday after witnesses said he pulled out of a gas station into oncoming traffic.
The driver of the Jeep that hit the teen fled the scene after the crash, according to police. That Jeep was found about two hours later abandoned at a gas station, but the search for the driver continued Sunday afternoon.
The collision happened about 2:40 p.m. Sunday near 4710 S. 4015 West. A group of three motorcyclists was pulling out of a gas station. The third rider, Edgar Osvaldo Frayre-Rodriguez, 19, was "kind of wobbly" coming out of the station, said Unified Police Lt. Lex Bell, and "went wide into oncoming traffic," witnesses told police.
Investigators were looking at inexperience as a possible factor. Rodriguez's friends said he had just purchased the motorcycle on Saturday, Bell said.
A 2000 to 2002 maroon or red Jeep hit the teen motorcyclist. Bell said the driver was only described by witnesses as a male Hispanic. He said the Jeep continued driving east on 4700 South and was last seen going south on the Bangerter Highway. The vehicle had a flat rear driver's side tire due to the crash, he said.
Why the Jeep driver fled was not immediately known. Bell said detectives began checking tire shops and gas stations after the crash knowing that the flat tire was in need of repair. That's how they found the abandoned vehicle at a Chevron near 3800 West and Bangerter Highway, Bell said.
NOW: @UPDSL needs your help to figure out who was driving this Jeep involved in the fatal hit-and-run @KSL5TVpic.twitter.com/7MGXWiZmju
— Nicole Vowell (@NicoleVowellKSL) November 22, 2015The license plate on the vehicle was cancelled, meaning the prior owner may have recently sold it to another person. Detectives were waiting late Sunday afternoon for a judge to sign a search warrant so they could open the locked vehicle.
Bell said detectives could see a temporary permit folded and laying on the passenger seat and there was also a lot of personal property in the Jeep, such as clothing. Police did not know Sunday if the driver was moving or possibly living out of the vehicle.
Detectives were also checking surveillance video from the gas station to see if the driver was recorded.
Anyone with information on the driver can call Unified police at 801-743-7000.
Contributing: Nicole Vowell
