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TAYLORSVILLE — State troopers are asking Utah drivers to keep their cool behind the wheel in light of recent high-profile instances of road rage.
Utah Highway Patrol troopers on Wednesday arrested a man suspected of shooting an 18-year-old woman twice in the face while driving on I-15 in Clearfield earlier this month. Speaking Thursday at Utah Department of Public Safety headquarters in Taylorsville, Utah Highway Patrol Col. Mike Rapich said that while the incident is alarming, it's part of a broader trend of road rage-related crashes resulting in serious injury or death.
Although Utah doesn't define road rage in state law, investigators generally consider actions like aggressive maneuvers toward another person or vehicle or brandishing firearms as road rage.
"Let's be absolutely clear, all of these are absolutely unacceptable," Rapich said. "When we're talking about things that are happening on the freeway, at no time ... is a physical confrontation going to make that better. At no time is brandishing a firearm from a vehicle at another vehicle ... acceptable. There's all kinds of options — thousands of options — other than letting yourself be pulled into these kinds of confrontations."
"The really disturbing part about this is there are people who, in any other circumstances, probably wouldn't respond in the same way," he continued.
Capt. Troy Denney, commander of the State Bureau of Investigation, who helped lead the investigation that resulted in the arrest in Clearfield, said witness video of the shooting shows the victim's vehicle make an "erratic movement" moments before the suspect on a motorcycle began chasing after the vehicle and fired four shots at the car.
He said the whole exchange lasted "literally seconds."
Let's be absolutely clear, all of these are absolutely unacceptable. When we're talking about things that are happening on the freeway, at no time ... is a physical confrontation going to make that better. At no time is brandishing a firearm from a vehicle at another vehicle ... acceptable.
–-Col. Mike Rapich, Utah Highway Patrol
Denney described a "remarkable set of events" in which the woman safely exited the freeway on her own after being shot.
"It appears that she remained calm and collected and drove herself to a trusted individual's home, who then transported her to the hospital," he said.
"This particular incident is alarming because it could have happened to any of us," Denney said. "I would dare say that there's not a single driver on the roads today who, at some point, hasn't inadvertently cut somebody off or missed somebody in a blind spot. ... That could have been any of our loved ones."
He described the process the bureau took to track down personal surveillance video of the suspect and match it with witness statements leading up to the arrest.
Although investigators obtained video of the incident recorded by a witness, a UHP spokesman said the video would not be made available to the public at this time.
Utah has seen a relatively stable number of road rage-related crashes over the past six years, Rapich said, but fatalities and serious injuries in such crashes have increased dramatically since 2020.
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Utah lawmakers have opened a bill file to consider ways to prevent the number of aggressive driving and road rage incidents on the state's roads.He said officials have tracked an average of six incidents of shots being fired during road rage confrontations each year for the past three years, with more than half having occurred on the freeway.
"Those are disturbing statistics," Rapich said, adding that road rage incidents can happen quickly and often stem from minor interactions.
"This started, at worst, with a single traffic violation that culminated into an interaction between two vehicles that results in someone firing at an 18-year-old girl by herself in the vehicle," he said.
Both Rapich and Denney said they take circumstances of road rage seriously and will aggressively pursue anyone who causes serious injuries during road rage encounters.
"We have tools available to us, and we will use any and all tools that are legal, ethical and professional to apprehend these individuals," Denney said.
Daniel Cortez Bodon, 34, was arrested Wednesday for investigation of attempted murder, three counts of felony discharge of a firearm and obstruction of justice. Denney said Bodon's wife was a passenger on the bike and was released from custody after the investigation concluded Wednesday, while investigators consider charging her, as well.
