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LAYTON — Officials say the driver of a Jeep is alive after crashing into a brick payday loan building Sunday morning.
Surveillance video shows the car smashing through the wall of the building. Photos show brick torn out of the side of the Check City at 1010 N. Hill Field Road, and a mangled Jeep that had to be extracted from the building.
"A crash like that could be catastrophic, if not fatal," Layton Police Sgt. Brent Ericksen said.
The Jeep was traveling quickly about 5:25 a.m., and failed to navigate a curve in the road, crossing the opposite lane and colliding with the Check City building, according to Ericksen. No one was in the Check City during the crash.
The 26-year-old man climbed out of the wreckage himself, Ericksen said. He was identified Tuesday as Joshua Salinas, according to Layton Police Lt. Travis Lyman.
"He just kept telling me 'Help me; can you help me?'" recalled a witness.
Salinas was transported to McKay-Dee Hospital in Ogden, and his condition was not known as of Tuesday, Lyman said.
Alcohol is believed to have contributed to the crash, according to Ericksen.
Salinas was cited for DUI at the hospital and released because he still needed medical treatment, Lyman said. He will not be booked into jail, which is typical in such cases, he said.
"When he gets sober he's going to feel everything," said another witness. "Not only in his wallet but in his body."
Contributing: Jen Riess, KSL.com; Tania Dean, KSL TV
