Cement truck driver arrested in fatal crash involving sheriff's deputy

Salt Lake County sheriff's deputy Joel Baker, 33, died Nov. 12 when a cement truck heading south on Redwood Road hit his eastbound car on Mountain View Corridor. The cement truck driver, who police say ran two red lights before hitting Baker's car, was arrested Wednesday for investigation of manslaughter.

Salt Lake County sheriff's deputy Joel Baker, 33, died Nov. 12 when a cement truck heading south on Redwood Road hit his eastbound car on Mountain View Corridor. The cement truck driver, who police say ran two red lights before hitting Baker's car, was arrested Wednesday for investigation of manslaughter. (Utah Department of Transportation)


Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

LEHI — A cement truck driver was arrested Wednesday after police say he intentionally ran two red lights and then crashed into another vehicle, killing a Salt Lake County sheriff's deputy on his way to work.

Jonas Hyrum Faamausili, 26, of West Jordan, was booked into the Utah County Jail for investigation of manslaughter, reckless driving and failing to have operative brakes on a commercial vehicle.

About 6 a.m. on Nov. 12, Faamausili was driving a cement truck on Redwood Road when at the Mountain View Corridor he "deliberately ran through two red lights, failing to try to brake or stop for either," according to a police booking affidavit. "On review of the dash camera that was in his vehicle, he was traveling slightly above the speed limit and doesn't try to brake for either red light."

The large truck crashed into a passenger vehicle, killing Joel Baker, 33, a Salt Lake County sheriff's deputy who was on his was to work.

"Due to him failing to even attempt to stop for either red light, which were red for several seconds prior to him entering either intersection, I believe he was operating a nearly 80,000-pound vehicle recklessly taking the life of another," the arresting officer wrote in the affidavit.

An inspection of the cement truck after the crash found that more than 20% if its brakes were not operable, the affidavit states.

Two GoFundMe campaigns were started by friends and coworkers to help pay for funeral expenses as well as to provide support to Baker's wife and young son.

"Everyone who knew Joel knew what a kind and giving individual he was. Always helping others and never asking for anything in return. He was the life of the party, always up to hang out and spend time with people. He will be greatly missed!" one fundraiser states.

Prior to working with the sheriff's office, Baker worked with the Utah Department of Corrections.

Most recent Police & Courts stories

Related topics

Police & CourtsUtahUtah CountySalt Lake County
Pat Reavy interned with KSL NewsRadio in 1989 and has been a full-time journalist for either KSL NewsRadio, Deseret News or KSL.com since 1991. For the past 25 years, he has worked primarily the cops and courts beat.

STAY IN THE KNOW

Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Newsletter Signup

KSL Weather Forecast

KSL Weather Forecast
Play button