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SALT LAKE CITY — A man who served prison time for hitting and killing a teen boy faces new weapons and drug-related charges.
And police say the investigation began because a Uintah County resident found a boat abandoned in his yard.
Jeffery Lloyd Bascom, 35, of Jensen, was charged Wednesday in 8th District Court with three counts of possession of a firearm by a restricted person, a second-degree felony; and drug possession, a class A misdemeanor.
On May 11, a homeowner who lives along U.S. 40 called police to report a boat had been left on his property, according to court records.
"During the course of the investigation a backpack belonging to the defendant was located in an aluminum boat that he abandoned on the other person's property. A container of marijuana wax was found in the backpack along with magazine loader containing 60 rounds of .22 caliber ammunition," according to charging documents.
Further investigation revealed two handguns and a rifle, all loaded, the charges state. Bascom is prohibited from possessing firearms because of his previous conviction.
In 2012, Bascom was driving his pickup truck in Vernal and was distracted by his cellphone when he drifted onto the shoulder of the road and hit 15-year-old Thomas "Tommy" Lavelle Clark, who was walking with a friend. Tommy died the next day.
After the accident, Bascom engaged in self-destructive behavior, relapsing after being clean from drugs for a year and later stealing an ATV, driving it as fast as it could go and crashing it. When he was sentenced for Clark's death in 2013, Bascom's jaw was still wired shut from the injuries he sustained.
In a 2015 parole hearing, he told the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole: "I didn't know how to live after (Tommy's death)."
During that hearing, Bascom also said it was still hard to talk about the incident. He said at the time that he was done with drugs.
