'It's a miracle Jayce is alive': Victim of alleged road rage has long road to recovery

Family members of a man who Centerville police say was run over by the driver of a pickup truck upset about a scratch to his vehicle suffered multiple injuries and has a long road to recovery.

Family members of a man who Centerville police say was run over by the driver of a pickup truck upset about a scratch to his vehicle suffered multiple injuries and has a long road to recovery. (Spenser Heaps, Deseret News)


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CENTERVILLE — A man who is a runner and was dragged about 50 feet across a parking lot in what police described as a road rage incident suffered a shattered pelvis, numerous internal injuries and has months of recovery ahead of him.

Family members say Jayce Medina, 20, suffered multiple fractures to his pelvis and ribs, cuts on the top of his head that required staples to close, broken teeth, and severe road rash all over his body.

"It's a miracle Jayce is still alive," says a GoFundMe campaign* started to raise money for his medical bills.

On Tuesday, Shawn Paul Smith, 44, of Bountiful, was booked into the Davis County Jail for investigation of aggravated assault and failing to remain at the scene of a serious accident.

Centerville police said the incident began with some sort of altercation between Medina and Smith in a Walmart parking lot.

Smith then followed Medina into the parking lot of a Target store, 200 N. Marketplace Drive, that was across the street, according to a police booking affidavit. Both vehicles turned into the parking lot at a high rate of speed, witnesses told police. Medina stopped and got out of his car to speak to the driver of the F-150 who was following him.

"While walking in front of the truck, the truck accelerates, hitting the victim and dragging (him) for eight parking stalls before the victim exits under the truck," the affidavit states.

The driver of the F-150, later determined to be Smith, then sped away, police say.

According to a GoFundMe Campaign set up by Medina's mother, a bystander came to her son's aid and called 911.

"Thank you to whoever you were," Andrea Medina wrote.

Using surveillance video from the store, police were able to get the license plate number of the truck. Officers went to the registered address where they found Smith and two children still in the vehicle, the affidavit states. Police say Smith told them that Medina had followed him into the Target parking lot and that Medina pointed a gun at him and his children and tried to open the door to his truck.

But surveillance video shows otherwise, according to investigators.

The video shows it was Smith who followed Medina, the affidavit says. Smith's children also told police that their father was driving really fast in the Walmart parking lot and another car pulled up next to his vehicle and scratched his truck.

"They said that Shawn got really mad and ran the driver of the white car over," according to the affidavit.

No gun was found in Medina's car or at the scene, and "no gun was seen on the surveillance video from Target. Shawn's children made no mention of a gun when they were describing what happened. None of the witnesses mentioned a gun," police wrote in the arrest report.

According to fundraising campaign, the truck ran directly over Medina's pelvis. Medina was scheduled to have surgery on his pelvis Wednesday and has "a long road of recovery ahead of him."

"Jayce has always been a very prideful, hardworking man and it hurts me to know that someone could hurt my son and leave us all feeling helpless," his mother wrote.

*KSL.com does not assure that the money deposited to the account will be applied for the benefit of the persons named as beneficiaries. If you are considering a deposit to the account, you should consult your own advisors and otherwise proceed at your own risk.

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Pat Reavy is a longtime police and courts reporter. He joined the KSL.com team in 2021, after many years of reporting at the Deseret News and KSL NewsRadio before that.

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