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OREM — One person is dead and two people are injured — including a Utah Highway Patrol trooper — after a wrong-way collision on Interstate 15 in Orem early Sunday morning.
The driver, in a white sedan, was reported shortly before 2 a.m. according to UHP, and the trooper moved to intercept. The trooper was also injured in the collision, as was a second person in the wrong-way car. The trooper and the passenger of the other car were taken to a hospital, UHP's Sgt. Andrew Battenfield said in a press conference.
According to a social media post by Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, the crash happened at "freeway speeds and on a blind dip."
The collision, this one fatal, is the fifth wrong-way driver reported in the last two weeks UHP said.
Battenfield said the injured trooper was transported to the hospital in "good shape, good spirits," and is expected to recover. Battenfield said the trooper's injuries were not life-threatening, but he will need surgery.
The injured trooper has been identified as Carlos Rios-Redd, according to Cox.
UHP said the trooper intercepted the wrong-way driver by making a head-on collision minutes after the call, before 2 a.m. The crash was reported on southbound I-15 at milepost 271 in Orem.
"Redd suffered a broken femur and ankle and was incapacitated while his car was caught fire," Cox said.
Hero alert: At 2am dispatch received a wrong-way driver report heading northbound on I-15 in Orem. Troopers Carlos Rios-Redd and Ben Fagan responded without hesitation. At freeway speeds and on a blind dip the car appeared sooner than expected and Trooper Redd took it head on. 1/ pic.twitter.com/04tRpySYTa
— Spencer Cox (@SpencerJCox) December 17, 2023
Then, Cox said, trooper Ben Fagan "extinguished the fire, broke the window with his hand and pulled Redd out as the cab was consumed in smoke."
The highway was closed for over eight hours and opened at approximately 11:40 a.m.
Battenfield said that impairment is most often a factor with wrong-way drivers, but it isn't known if it was a factor in this crash; it is being investigated.
"I can't speak for this particular incident, but impairment is a big factor with wrong-way drivers," he said. "If you're the public and see one of those like this morning, we had a call by a reporting person who just happened to see that wrong-way driver. It was within minutes that our trooper was there. Probably saved some lives today."
Because the accident involved a trooper, an investigation is underway led by Utah County's Officer-Involved Critical Incident team and the Orem Police Department.
Cox said prayers are with the family of the driver who was killed in the crash.
Early Sunday, a Trooper responded to a wrong-way driver on I-15 in Orem. A collision ensued, resulting in the wrong-way driver's fatality, critical condition for the passenger, and serious but non-life-threatening injuries for our Trooper. pic.twitter.com/8pUsZbdL11
— Utah Highway Patrol (@UTHighwayPatrol) December 17, 2023
