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AMERICAN FORK — A Salt Lake man with a history of impaired driving was charged Friday with causing a crash that killed a motorcyclist in American Fork.
Daniel Lance Foster, 51, is charged in 4th District Court with negligently operating a vehicle resulting in death, a second-degree felony; DUI with prior offenses, a third-degree felony; and drinking alcohol in a vehicle, a class C misdemeanor.
The charges were filed following Foster's release from jail Tuesday after the Utah County Attorney's Office said it initially missed the case.
"We missed this case when it came into our office," Tim Taylor, chief of staff with the Utah County Attorney's Office, told KSLTV. "We thought it was just a traffic case — didn't understand that it was a death case. It was not assigned to be screened by an attorney, and so it's being assigned and screened today."
On May 12, Foster was pulling out of a business onto West State Road near 100 North in American Fork to make a left turn when a northbound motorcycle "crashed into the driver side rear quarter panel of the truck. The impact caused the truck to spin around 180 degrees and face the parking lot it just exited," a police booking affidavit states.
Jason Hughes, 32, died in the crash. He leaves behind five children, ages 3 to 11 years old. He was a diesel mechanic for the Utah Department of Transportation.
"The motorcyclist was going approximately 58 mph in a 35 mph zone and tried to stop, but was unable to and hit the back of the truck. However, the motorcyclist had the right of way. Moreover, while (Foster) initially told officers that he did not see the motorcycle, he later told officers that he saw the motorcycle, but believed he had time to make the turn," charging documents state.
A half-empty bottle of alcohol was found in Foster's vehicle. He was unable to competed field sobriety tests as he was "deemed to be too emotional to complete the tests," the charges say.
A test conducted later, however, determined Foster's blood-alcohol level was at 0.217%, or more than four times the legal limit, according to the charges. Prosecutors noted that even though the test was taken about three hours after the crash, Foster still had a very high blood-alcohol content.
