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Marc Giauque and Brooke Walker ReportingResponders say they're amazed no one was killed in a high-speed crash involving a car and a Utah Highway Patrol cruiser in Tooele County.
"When I first pulled up here I knew we had somebody that had been killed," says Sheriff's Lt. Duke North. North says he saw a trooper's car with its roof cut off, debris spread in all directions, and another car on its top, more than 100 feet away.
"When you see the damage in that car, it's half-way into that car; that's what it looks like," North says.
Investigators say the trooper was responding to a reckless driving call with lights and sirens when the other driver moved into the intersection.
"She doesn't see the trooper coming when the light turns green for her. She passes through the intersection. There's no place for the trooper to go," North says.
Inside that car, a mother and her two kids, ages two and six, were not seriously injured. They were taken by ground to local hospitals to get checked out. The trooper was transported by air, but also had only minor injuries.
Lt. Duke North: "It's just because of the seatbelts, the airbags, the kids were in their car seats and strapped in, and that's what saved the day for those folks involved in this accident.
Tooele County is investigating the crash. The Highway Patrol says troopers responding with lights and sirens are trained to make sure an intersection is clear before they enter. A Highway Patrol lieutenant says that obviously did not happen. He says it turns out the driver of the car troopers were trying to catch up with before the crash was drunk.
