- Zachary Alan Ingalls, 32, faces charges after a fatal Provo Canyon crash.
- Ingalls allegedly lied about the driver and tested positive for THC, say police.
- Previously, Ingalls caused a crash resulting in permanent brain damage to a passenger.
PROVO — An Orem man accused of crashing his car in Provo Canyon, resulting in the death of his passenger, is now facing criminal charges.
Zachary Alan Ingalls, 32, was charged Monday in 4th District Court with negligently operating a vehicle resulting in death, a second-degree felony; and obstruction of justice, a third-degree felony.
About 6:30 a.m. on Aug. 1, Ingalls flagged down another driver and said he needed an ambulance.
"I rolled my truck off the road," he told the driver, while also stating "that his 'buddy' was in the vehicle and couldn't be awakened," according to charging documents.
Police responded to Kyhv Peak Road and located a vehicle "upside down in a field some distance from the roadway. The body of (25-year-old Kortnie Benson Barajas), deceased, was in the wreckage, pinned between the driver's seat and the driver's door," the charges state.
Ingalls initially told police that his brother was driving the vehicle when it crashed, but "after police spoke to the brother and other family members, this statement was determined to be false," according to the charges.
He then claimed Barajas was driving. However, other family members told investigators "there was 'no chance' (she) was driving because she had always been too scared to drive, did not know how to drive, did not have a license, and always only got rides from others," the charges state.
Ingalls tested positive for THC, according to police.
This is the second time Ingalls has been involved in a crash that caused serious injury while he was driving with THC in his system.
In 2022, Ingalls was driving his Corvette between 90 mph and 100 mph on Foothill Drive in Provo in a 25-mph zone when he attempted to pass another car and clipped the other vehicle's driver-side mirror and front fender. Ingalls' vehicle went airborne and rolled down an embankment, causing life-threatening injuries to a 25-year-old woman in the passenger seat. Prosecutors say the woman suffered permanent brain damage, according to the charges.
He was convicted in that case of negligently operating a vehicle, causing serious injury, a third-degree felony. He was sentenced to a term of zero to five years in the Utah State Prison.
Most recently, he was charged in March with DUI, a third-degree felony, in 4th District Court. His next scheduled court appearance in that case is Oct. 8.
